LA U.E. REVISARÁ A PETICIÓN DE ESPAÑA LAS EXIGENCIAS FITOSANITARIAS PARA CÍTRICOS IMPORTADOS DE TERCEROS PAÍSES

Adoptado el compromiso en el Comité Fitosanitario Permanente

España solicita que medidas similares a las adoptadas en 2004 para diversos países sean aplicadas de forma permanente a aquellos en que concurran las mismas circunstancias.

La Comisión Europea, a través del Comité Fitosanitario Permanente, ha adoptado el compromiso firme, atendiendo a las demandas de España, de avanzar hacia una mayor protección de las producciones citrícolas europeas frente a los organismos nocivos de cuarentena. España había solicitado formalmente a la Comisión que las medidas de emergencia o medidas similares a las adoptadas en 2004 sean aplicadas de forma permanente a todos los países terceros que tengan las mismas circunstancias fitosanitarias a las existentes en aquella fecha en los referidos países.

Desde hace años, España viene insistiendo ante la Unión Europea en la necesidad de endurecer los requisitos establecidos en la legislación comunitaria (Directiva 2000/29/CE, del Consejo de 8 de mayo de 2000), para evitar la introducción en su territorio de diferentes organismos nocivos de los cítricos no presentes en las áreas citrícolas europeas. Se trata entre otros del "citrus canker", de la mancha negra y de las moscas de la fruta no europeas. Cada una de estas plagas representa un alto riesgo para nuestras producciones citrícolas.

Sobre la base de las interceptaciones de organismos nocivos habidas en los puntos de inspección fronterizos de la Unión Europea en envíos de frutos cítricos procedentes de Argentina y Brasil, España logró que la Comisión Europea aprobase en el año 2004 medidas de emergencia para las importaciones de frutos cítricos procedentes de estos dos países (Decisión 2004/416/CE de la Comisión de 29 de abril de 2004). Dichas medidas supusieron un incremento importante de las exigencias fitosanitarias que los huertos de cultivo y los frutos cítricos de los citados países debían cumplir para permitir la entrada de estos en el territorio de Unión Europea que ahora se pretende sean aplicadas de forma permanente a aquellos en los que concurran las mismas circunstancias.

Naranjas/EE.UU: Producción 2007 cae a 7, 4 millones de toneladas, comparado con 9 millones de toneladas el año anterior.

US: small orange harvest forces juice prices up
Weather a factor in cost's upward creep

The price for orange juice is juiced these days, with hurricanes and plant disease in Florida the primary culprits. Orange juice prices have risen for more than six months. As of Feb. 17, it was $5.76 a gallon, 24 percent higher than a year ago, and was poised to go higher. At Save Mart on Monday, a gallon of Minute Maid orange juice was $6.99. Bayview Farms juice was on special for $4.29 a gallon.

The chief executive officer of a Florida citrus growers group said high prices were inevitable because this year's orange harvest fell about 8 million boxes short of expectations. In a peak year, about 200 million boxes are harvested. This year, Florida produced about 140 million.

"In the last two years, we've had four major hurricanes that literally ripped through the heart of the citrus-growing area in Florida," said Michael Sparks of Florida Citrus Mutual, a trade organization of almost 10,000 citrus growers. Looking ahead, he said, there's good news and bad news. The good is that the price increases from this year's harvest appear to be over.

The bad? That prices don't appear to be headed down anytime soon, he said. "This is probably a new normal," Sparks said, explaining that some economists think the price could rise further in future years if orange growers continue to have problems with weather, disease and loss of orchards to residential development.

California orange growers produce most of their fruit for the fresh market, not juice. Still, Sparks said, the freeze California growers experienced in January didn't help the situation. Prices for fresh oranges may be higher, said Bob Blakely, director of grower services for California Citrus Mutual, but the freeze helped contain prices for concentrate.

Because growers knew their fruit wouldn't be edible, he said, many of them shifted their crops to concentrate. "A lot of juice is imported from Brazil now," he said. "It helps some, but worldwide, there's been a reduction in orange production."

Americans buy about $3 billion worth of orange juice annually from grocery stores and other mass retailers, according to market research firm ACNielsen, which provides the average price data. That's down by more than 10percent from four years ago. Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America, said Florida's orange problems have been ongoing, but consumers didn't feel them until recently.

"If you see a continuation of higher prices, then companies may try to look for other sources," he said, but prices are unlikely to change in the near future. Higher prices for orange juice aren't just at the grocery store. Smoothie fans are feeling a citrus pinch. Smoothie chain Jamba Juice has instituted a "brr-charge" of 25 cents for smoothies with orange juice as an ingredient, and 35 cents for straight orange juice.

An official representing Jamba Juice said the San Francisco-based company gets its oranges from California and Florida. The charge will remain in effect until supplies improve, according to the company.

The charge didn't bother Laci Leal of Modesto. She said she buys Jamba Juice smoothies with orange juice for her two children, Gabriella Cervantes and Michael Marchant, several times a week. "It helps them get their dose of fruit for the day, and I think I can handle an extra quarter," said Leal, 25.