"The negotiations regarding the regulation of geographical indications (GIs) in Europe, with Italian MEP Paolo De Castro as a speaker, are proceeding apace, and there is cause for optimism that there are many points of agreement with other EU countries on important issues such as the protection of GIs used as ingredients, online protection and sustainability," says the president of the Consortium Arancia Rossa di Sicilia IGP, Gerardo Diana, who added: "Especially regarding the protection of PGI products used as ingredients in other preparations, the attention must be, in our opinion, utmost because it is currently one of the issues on which there is the need to dispose of tools to foil fraud and misuse of the denomination."

"Sustainability plays a key role in our specification, and we have always and clearly believed that it should also be intended at an economic level. Online protection is now a very important issue for the company," explains Diana. In this regard, we would like to express our appreciation to the Carabinieri per la Tutela Agroalimentare and the Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and Fraud Repression of Agri-food Products (Icqrf), who play a key role on this front. Through the efforts of our vigilance officers, our consortium is particularly active in this regard."

"Furthermore, there is a need to stay on guard against phytopathologies, such as greening (or huanglongbing), coming from countries outside Europe," he continues. "In the U.S., the production of orange juice is the lowest in the last hundred years, precisely as a result of the effects of huanglongbing.

"The defense on the part of Italian and European institutions against this threat with adequate phytosanitary barriers is urgent and necessary, or it is likely to devastate the European citrus market," warns Diana. The ones at risk are the Sicilian Red Orange PGI and a sector that characterizes Italian products, which is particularly multifaceted and worthy of protection in our country. The consortium of Arancia Rossa di Sicilia has repeatedly raised an alarm that cannot go unheeded. As early as September, we will continue to put forward our proposals to ensure that we are not unprepared for this danger."

However, the threats to Sicilian oranges do not end there
"We cannot remain inactive in the face of yet another threat to European citrus production," urges the president, "and we will call on producers and all components of the supply chain to unite in a European coordination that will actively dialogue with EU institutions to prevent phytopathologies arriving from non-European countries.

Diana urges in favor of an initiative for continent-wide coordination of the citrus supply chain "after yet another sign of phytopathological alarm launched black days ago by the Valencian Association of Producers about the detection of citrus black spot (Phyllosticta citricarpa or CBS) found in a shipment of oranges from Egypt."

"The time has come, and we must act at a EU scale, make our voices heard and bring forward our proposals on this issue in a unified manner. In Italy, as well as in other countries of the EU, there are skilled technicians and qualified organizations capable of studying and suggesting prevention strategies. We need to make use of this and deploy the best expertise to avoid disasters such as those that have already occurred in the past with the Tristeza virus. In the immediate term, in Italy, we urge the government to strengthen controls on incoming consignments of non-European citrus fruits," concluded Diana.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com