FEPEX demands a review of EU entry prices to protect the tomato sector and strengthen food sovereignty.

 

El European Parliament It was the setting for the event "Strengthening European food sovereignty: what are the priorities?", co-organized by MEPs Esther Herranz García, Eric Sargiacomo and Elsi Katainen. During the meeting, José María Pozancos, director of FEPEX, explained the critical situation facing the tomato sector in the EU and the urgent need to review the entry prices established in the Association Agreement with Morocco.

 

"The competitiveness of the tomato sector in the EU has declined significantly in the last decade," Pozancos stated, backing up his words with concrete data: "Since 2014, fresh tomato production in Spain has fallen by 30%, and exports have decreased by 43%, going from 786.598 tons in 2014 to 448.004 tons in 2023."

 

In contrast, the Moroccan tomato imports to the EU have increased by 42%. in the same period, according to data from Eurostat"This displacement of Spanish tomatoes in the market is mainly due to the fact that the entry prices, set 25 years ago, have not fulfilled their function of protecting the community market and have become obsolete," Pozancos explained.

 

The conventional entry price of €46,1/100kg, established in 2000, only considers round tomatoes, leaving other varieties such as cherry tomatoes unprotected, and the growth in imports of these varieties threatens the income of EU producers. "It is essential to establish an entry price with differentiated values ​​for each tomato variety, in line with production costs," Pozancos emphasized.

 

FEPEX's proposal suggests using the new customs nomenclature, which differentiates three types of tomatoes (cherry, vine, and others), to establish specific entry prices. According to Pozancos, this measure would allow them to "protect our farmers from dumping and the lack of reciprocal trade," one of the key objectives of the event at the European Parliament.

 

The organizers of the event, Esther Herranz, Eric Sargiacomo and Elsi KatainenThey stressed the importance of strengthening European food sovereignty in the face of growing climate and geopolitical crises. "Strengthening our security means reinforcing the tools and food sovereignty at the EU level, primarily through the reform of the CAP," they stated in a joint press release.

 

The three main changes required, according to the organizers, are: improving farmers' position in the value chain, providing crisis management tools such as strategic stocks, and protecting farmers from dumping and lack of trade reciprocity.

 

FEPEX's intervention was part of the third segment of the event, which discussed the need to protect European farmers from unfair trading practices. The revision of entry prices for tomatoes is presented as an essential measure to ensure the survival of the sector and EU food security.