On 18 February, the Director of the Phytosanitary Inspection Service of Ukraine, Vitali Romanchenko, proceeded to sign the veto on the import of leafy vegetables from Spain, which has entered into force, officially, from 1 March 2016.
The reason for this measure, as announced by Romanchenko, is the "repeated violation of phytosanitary protocols by Spanish products at border controls."
The decision of the Federal Phytosanitary and Veterinary Service of Ukraine affects broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, endive, escarole and cabbage, as well as other varieties of Baby Leaf salad, which Spanish exporters supplied to Ukraine both fresh and refrigerated.
Until now, Spanish vegetables reached Ukraine both directly and indirectly, via importers and European intermediaries.
"We knew this could happen. About two weeks ago, we had a little incident with the Ukrainian authorities because of a few batches that were mildly affected by thrips. The unusually high temperatures this winter in Murcia and Almeria, the main production areas in Spain, have resulted in the proliferation of these small insects; however, this does not mean that the product is not fit for consumption," explains Jordi Estrada, of the commercial department of Primaflor, one of the companies affected by these measures.
Spain is Europe's largest producer of this type of vegetables during the winter, so Ukraine will have to resort to third countries in North Africa. "If Spain is not suited to export to Ukraine, it remains to be seen whether other countries outside the EU will be able to guarantee the food safety standards Ukraine demands," points out the exporter.
"Given that the percentage of direct exports to Ukraine is insignificant at sector level compared to the shipments made to other European markets, we cannot speak of significant losses," he explains. "It remains to be seen how this will affect us indirectly," he adds.
