South African citrus farmers are facing tough times with the latest legislation from the European Union that requires all produce from the country to undergo extreme cold treatment of between 0°C to -1°C for at least 16 days before export, to stave off false codling moth (FCM) contamination, Eye Witness News reports.
The new rules may force the industry to ban the export of some types of citrus, including blood oranges, Turkey, Salustiana, Benny, and Midknights, which will be most affected as they cannot withstand those cold temperatures.
The government is now lodging a complaint with the World Trade Organization on the matter, but has since managed to negotiate the clearing of citrus containers stuck in ports of entry in the European Union (EU). To date we have managed to clear more 300 of the 509 containers and we are processing clearance of the remaining containers. The EU introduced new measures, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed.
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