The territorial delegate for Agriculture, Fishing, Water and Rural Development, Antonio Mena, has valued the news of the reopening of the fresh pepper export campaign to the USA as «very positive for our sector, which, although it has been delayed, as the main export campaign goes from December to April, is also very positive for the 2024-2025 campaign, as the marketing date will be much earlier, allowing the organisations to make better forecasts. Five companies from Almeria are members of this programme».
«It is worth noting that for this season, as well as California pepper, other types such as hot peppers have also been opened up». Along these lines, the regional delegate declared that «we know that our pepper companies and producers are going to comply to the maximum with the requirements of the American government and we hope for a fruitful season, without any incidents. Pepper is the star crop in the province of Almeria, the one that occupies the most surface area, the one with the highest turnover, and highly valued in international markets for its high quality, therefore, the fact that our peppers are in demand beyond the Atlantic is very important and increases the excellent reputation of our sector».
On 19th January, the United States published the Federal Order opening the export season for fresh peppers (Capsicum annuum) from Spain to this country. The US requirements for peppers from other countries are included in the Federal Order («Revision of Fruits and Vegetables Import Regulations; Final Rule») and are mainly aimed at preventing the arrival of the «fruit fly» (Ceratitis capitata) along with the peppers exported to the United States.
In December 2022, the export season was closed as a result of the interception of several larvae and one pupa of the pest in commercial shipments from Spain. In view of this situation, an investigation process was opened by the Spanish Administration (Ministry of Agriculture and Andalusian Regional Government), which found several structural damages in different greenhouses, being the cause of these damages the strong rains and winds in certain areas of the province of Almeria, which caused the loss of the necessary watertightness to protect against the pest.
The Spanish Administration proposed a series of improvements, which were verified by the American Plant Health authority and as a result, the United States has modified the export ban order.
In order to be able to export to the United States, both pepper growers and traders must fulfil a series of requirements established in the Federal Order: the greenhouses must be registered and inspected, a trapping net must be installed both outside and inside to monitor the pest, once the peppers have been harvested, they must be protected with an insect-proof net from the greenhouse to their packaging in the warehouse. The warehouses must also be registered and the peppers for export to the USA must be handled separately from the rest.