The director of Proexport, Fernando P. Gómez Molina, has participated in a meeting in Nantes to analyse the situation of European producers and the development of their exports. At this meeting, the Spanish-French-Italian Tomato Group, which is formed by representatives of both producers and managers, has addressed the common problems faced by this crop within the European framework. It is worth noting that tomatoes, the third vegetable in importance for the Region of Murcia, recorded a significant drop in exports, of about 24.1%, in the 2015-2016 season, from 125,196 to 95,019 tonnes.
For Proexport, the push of the domestic market is mostly to blame for this, because the strong growth of domestic consumption has taken volumes away from the export markets. There are other factors such as unfair competition from Morocco and the fact that producers are increasingly committed to growing tomato varieties with a better flavour, more added value and better final price, even if this entails lower volumes.
In the 2015-2016 marketing year, 10.3% of the national tomato exports came from the Region of Murcia and reached a value of 87.6 million Euro.
General Assembly of Eucofel
Nantes has also hosted the General Assembly of Eucofel, which has carried out an in-depth analysis of the situation and prospects for the Agricultural and Commercial Policies of the European Union in the fruit and vegetables sector, addressing issues such as the CAP and its impact on the competitiveness of the sector in a virtually globalised market, in which EU fruit and vegetable producers face many challenges; access to new markets and the development of fresh fruit and vegetable consumption in EU countries.
In order to contribute to the sustainability of the sector, the Eucofel partners will study the adoption of cooperation agreements, both in the phytosanitary field, promoting mutual recognition to improve the availability of plant protection products, as well as the in the introduction of joint programs within the framework of the EU's promotion policies.
The Eucofel General Assembly is formed by representatives of its partners from the main producing countries of the European Union: France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Greece and Germany. The presidency is currently held by Fepex President Jorge Brotons.
