Export entities Canary tomato will move to the Government Delegate the situation of the sector.

AT THE MEETING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE LITIGATION WITH THE STATE WERE EXPOSED AS WELL AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO REMEDY THE DISAPPEARANCE.

The associations of tomato exporters from the two Canary Islands provinces have held a meeting with the Government Delegate in the Canary Islands, Mª del Carmen Hernández Bento, to which they have transmitted the situation of “eviction” to which the sector is facing.

Both the president of the Association of Exporting Harvesters of Tenerife, ACETO, Francisco Mesa, as well as that of the Federation of Horticultural Exporters of Las Palmas, FEDEX, Ismael López, They exposed the situation in which this sector finds itself after the shock resulting from the conviction of Fedex..

If the same ruling occurs in the ACETO litigation, still pending sentencing, Both entities consider that the end of the Canary Islands tomato export sector would be served. Especially, because the first sentence obliges FEDEX to reimburse the compensation plus interest, including that of those exporters who collected it and no longer exist..

ACETO Lawyers, Pedro Galvan, and from FEDEX, Octavio Rodriguez, They presented to the Delegate an alternative that, by requesting suspension of the process with the consensus of the State Attorney's Office, would allow us to study again the reports used by the State Administration to claim reimbursement of compensation.

Since the beginning of the lawsuit, las entidades exportadoras han manifestado su disconformidad con los citados informes ya que estos no han tenido en consideración las condiciones que necesita el tomate canario para ser transportado al continente en óptimas condiciones y en tiempo.

In addition, los exportadores aducen que para el cálculo del coste del transporte se utilizaron los precios que ofrecen buques que pasan por Canarias -no refrigerados- provenientes del sur de Africa a los que se denomina de oportunidad, que no garantizan la cadena de frío, la periodicidad, plazo de entrega ni disposición del espacio necesario.

Fue esta razón, junto a los elevados costes que ofrecía la única consignataria que operaba desde Canarias, which forced Canarian exporters to auction on the international market the service they need to meet their clients and at the lowest possible cost.

If there had been a shipping company that would have offered a lower price than the one they achieved at auction, The exporters insist that they would have hired her, since the commercial activity they practice consists of optimizing and reducing costs so as not to lose, and not in “inflate them” just as the State Administration accused them.

On the other hand, and in response to the request made, The Government Delegate told the delegation that she was aware of the situation and promised to arrange an interview with the State Attorney's Office to address the proposal that the heads of FEDEX and ACETO conveyed to her..