Spain: South Africa adds 7 detections of black spot in September and already accumulates 26 this year

In September, the European Union intercepted seven new detections of Phyllosticta citricarpa - the fungus that causes black spot in citrus - in citrus shipments from South Africa, bringing the total number of interceptions of this quarantine pest to 26 so far this year, which if it were to be introduced into European territory would cause multi-million euro losses to the citrus sector. AVA-ASAJA demands that the community institutions "close once and for all the borders to imports of South African citrus fruits because it is a third country that does not want or cannot comply with the phytosanitary safety of its shipments to Europe and, on top of that, has the nerve and disloyalty to denounce European control measures, precisely against pests and diseases such as black spot, before the World Trade Organisation (WTO)." In this regard, the EU is asked to “devote all its available resources to knocking down the panel opened within the WTO due to the unacceptable risk of contagion to ...