THE European Union revealed that the exports from the sector agriculture have stagnated while increasing imports totals, including those of several countries Africawhich has increased by 27%. In other words, agricultural producers continue to sell the same amount of food abroad, but community nations increasingly need to buy food outside the continent. This is happening while farmers warn of the arrival of goods that do not comply with the health standards of the union.
If the data of EgyptIvory Coast and Morocco, which are those proposed by the report and the most relevant, agri-food imports increased from 4,461 million euros until May 2023 to 5,695 million euros.
Thus, the European Union’s agri-food exports stood at 19.7 billion euros in May, unchanged compared to the same month of the previous year. For their part, imports of these products increased by 3%, to 14.7 billion euros.
The main importing country was, once again, Brazil. However, Europe has reduced its agricultural purchases from the American country by 4%. Behind it, they stood United Kingdom And UkraineHowever, the increase in agricultural products from Africa stands out.
Agriculture from Africa
African foods are increasingly present throughout the European Union. “Imports of Ivory Coast, Nigeria And Tunisia increased, driven by rising cocoa and olive oil prices,” says the report prepared by the European CommissionIn other words, Europe has imported olive oil from countries like Tunisia.
“On the contrary, imports of Australia, Indonesia And Canada “They have fallen sharply,” the document reveals. Thus, the increase in general agri-food imports is mainly due to purchases made from African countries.
“Imports of coffee, tea, cocoa and spices increased by 26% (2.3 billion euros), and those of fruit And dried fruits 9% (855 million euros), while the cereals and oilseeds suffered significant declines due to lower prices and volumes,” the report said.
OKDIARIO had already announced that, at least in Spain, the import of fruits The number of Africans has skyrocketed. It was only in February that the Spanish economy increased its purchases of fruit from Morocco by 46.17%, from the start of the farmers’ protests which paralyzed the country and Europe for months.
So far this year, Spain has detected several games of strawberries with hepatitis arrivals from Morocco. Concretely, since the beginning of 2024, the health authorities have paralyzed the entry of three batches.
In the latter case, a differential circumstance occurred, namely that the game was withdrawn when had already crossed the border and he was in Spain, on his way to market. He was heading towards his final destination when one of the samples previously taken at the border control tested positive and forced the authorities to paralyze that batch of fruit, the third found with the same pathogen in just a month and a half.
So, on March 6, the first health alert of this type has resonated in Spain. Some strawberries from Morocco contained pathogenic microorganisms corresponding to the strawberry virus. hepatitis Aas reported by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) after analyzing a sample on February 19.
After that, as indicated this newspaperfarmers asked Pedro Sanchez that they and consumers should be present during inspections of food imported from abroad, particularly those coming from “North Africa”.
Exports from the European Union
In terms of exports, Europe barely exports food products to Africa. “The UK was the main destination, followed by USAwhich recorded a 9% increase due to the increase in olive oil prices,” the document explains.
Furthermore, the veto on the pork sector and of milk from China This is already beginning to be seen in the European sector’s accounts: “China saw a 10% drop, mainly in pork, cereal preparations and dairy products.”
In fact, as this newspaper reported, the veto of China At dairy sector The European sinks the Spanish breederssince they are forced to sell their animals due to falling prices. price at the continental level.
“Furthermore, exports to Brazil increased by 208 million euros (+21%), driven by the rise in prices of olives and olive oil. On the contrary, exports to Russia fell by 15% (463 million euros), particularly in spirits“, says the European Commission.
