Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA) met this week with those of the main fruit and vegetable organizations, including FEPEX, in order to arrange a second round of consultations and discuss the future changes that the Ministry plans to introduce in the Royal Decrees on the application of the CMO for fruit and veg.
In the first meeting, which took place on 7 March, the General Subdirectorate of Fruits and Vegetables, Olive Oil and Vitivinicultura of the MAPAMA presented the draft Royal Decree relating to funds and operational programs.
For FEPEX, it is a priority to maintain the criteria for the recognition of producer organizations unchanged, since making them tougher would negatively affect the integration of the producers into POs. It would also have a very negative impact on the ease of access to the co-funding measures included in the operational programs, and these are basic to improve the competitiveness in increasingly globalised markets, both in Spain and in the other EU Member States, where the sector ships 94% of its exports and makes 70% of its turnover.