Pretoria, Dec 1 (Prensa Latina) The Committee for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of National Assembly of South Africa highlighted that the European ban on South African citrus represents a threat to the domestic economy. In a press release issued by the Parliament from Cape Town, legislators urged the European Union (EU) to reconsider the measure and South African producers to find ways to solve this problem.
South African citrus imports were banned by the EU because of an alleged contamination of fruits with a sort of fuliginosa fungus.
“The EU ban on South African citrus is an artificial barrier set to benefit European farmers”, said Johannes Moller, president of AgriSA federation.
“They took a similar decision against Namibian farm products in 2009 and 2011”, said Moller to journalists in Cape Town.
“This measure is purely economic self-protection because everyone knows that this type of fungus does not live in European weather conditions, Moller said.
South Africa sells to Europe 600,000 tons of oranges, lemons, limes and tangerines every year, with an approximate value of $1.2 billion USD.
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