1369438652359gThe Minister of Agriculture raises the possible “domino effect” caused by the diversion of productions from other origins that were directed to Russia.

The Minister of agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and waters of the Canary Islands, Juan Ramon Hernandez, expressed in Parliament his concern about the possible effects of the Russian veto on the import of products from the European Union on the fruit and vegetable export sector of the Archipelago.

This subsector received a total of, The person responsible for the area clarified that the situation caused by the Russian ban has not initially had an impact on the Canary Islands, due to the shipment of export productions to European markets that could be affected - tomatoes and cucumbers- it hasn't started yet, given that the start of shipments of these products usually occurs from the first half of October.

“Although as of the date of 16 September of 2014 The tomato and cucumber export campaign has not yet started, There is currently a concern in the export sector due to the possible domino effect in the markets, derived from the diversion of productions from other origins that were destined for the Russian market, and the excess supply in markets other than the Russian one as a consequence of the above, which could produce a foreseeable drop in prices of productions in markets other than the Russian one.”, said the head of the Department.

In order to prevent the market situation from turning into a more serious or prolonged disturbance, The European Commission has adopted urgent exceptional temporary aid measures for producers of perishable fruits and vegetables who have been most affected by the sudden loss of the export market during the harvest period..

Temporary exceptional aid measures cover the period from 18 August and 30 November of 2014 and take the form of EU financial aid for tomatoes, carrots, coles, sweet peppers, cauliflowers and broccoli, cucumbers and pickles, fungi, apples, pear, plums, berries, fresh table grapes and kiwis.

This threat of market disruption is of particular importance for the fruit and vegetable sector since at European level, in this period of the year, large quantities of perishable products are harvested.

The European Commission has issued a Communication from the Directorate General of Agriculture and Rural Development, dated 10 September of 2014, by which you no longer receive notifications of withdrawals as the planned budget of the company has already been exceeded. 125 million euros.

The European spokesperson for Agriculture, Roger Waine announced that the Commission has suspended emergency measures for perishable fruit and vegetables (after questionable claims), and is now trying to design a more specific plan since requests from some countries exceed the EU's annual average exports several times..

Recalls from the market, green harvesting and not harvesting are effective crisis management measures in case of surpluses of fruit and vegetables due to temporary and unforeseeable circumstances, which are included in the Implementing Regulations (EU) 543/2011 of the Commission.

In the Canary Islands, The withdrawals that are currently being carried out are those common at this time in previous years and are included in the crisis prevention and management measures., within the operational programs that the Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organizations (PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS) carried out on a regular basis within the scope of their respective programs.