A group of four Palestinian co-operatives are working towards Eurep-Gap certification by January in order to be able to export cherry tomatoes, strawberries and flowers to European markets.

The 400 growers within the co-operatives are all experienced and many of them have marketed their produce in the past through Israseli exporter Agrexco under its Coral label.

Likely volumes from the growers are for 700 tonnes of cherry tomatoes and 200-300t of strawberries. Production is on a small scale with medium-sized growers having just two to three acres under cultivation and small growers with holdings in some cases of under an acre.

Hanan Oren, who works with the co-operatives explains that the project is an exciting opportunity. 'There will be he possibility to increase production as the co-operatives are being supported by the European Union through the Paris Institute for Peace which is injecting finance,' said Oren.

'The rationale is that eventually the producers will be able to become independent and there will be no need for subsidies. This activity may play an important role in the peace process between Palestine and Israel.' Labour and production costs are low on the plantations which are mainly family-run and consequently growers feel they can compete effectively with other suppliers in the Mediterranean basin.

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