«Chinese Nashi pears regularly arrive in our country but the Italian ones cannot go to China because the phytosanitary authorization has not yet been granted. And until the pear dossier is closed, we cannot start talking about apples, because the Chinese are tackling one dossier at a time». Coldiretti chooses Fruit Logistica in Berlin, the main international trade fair for the sector, to denounce the multiplication of customs barriers that hold back exports and make it more difficult for the sector to bear the impact on production costs caused by the war in Ukraine and by the rise in raw materials energy: + 119 percent.
The list of customs barriers also includes Canada where «despite the Ceta agreement signed by the EU – we cannot export cherry tomatoes to the country of maple because Canadians would like them to be treated with methyl bromide which is prohibited by us». And then there is Japan: “It is impossible to export kiwis to Japan, the phytosanitary dossier opened in 2008, in defiance of the Jeta free trade agreement signed by the European Union with the Japanese government, has not yet been completed”. But the balance of trade pays not only for the effects of protectionism but, at least according to Coldiretti, also for unfair competition “we denounce the existence of economic and social dumping”. According to the agricultural organisation, “almost 1 out of 5 food products imported into Italy do not comply with the regulations on the protection of health and the environment or the rights of workers in force in our country, often driven even by concessions and preferential agreements stipulated by the Union European”. An example? For Coldiretti «the accusation of exploiting the work of the Kurdish minorities hangs over the hazelnuts from Turkey. But there are also grapes and garlic from Argentina and bananas from Brazil burdened by heavy accusations from the US Department of Labor for using child labor but with which the EU has nevertheless started the free trade agreement Mercosur”. For Ettore Prandini, president of Coldiretti «it is necessary that all products entering national and European borders respect the same criteria, guaranteeing that behind the Italian and foreign foods on sale on the shelves there is a similar quality path that concerns the environment, work and health, according to the principle of reciprocity”.
Meanwhile, a report by the Divulga study center highlights how “Italy is the first country in the European Union for the volume of exports of preserved tomatoes, grapes, kiwis and shelled hazelnuts, while it ranks second behind Poland for the apple sales.