Press release…
46 PERCENT OF FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE EXPORT FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN…
Ferhat Gürüz, Chairman of the Board of the Mediterranean Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exporters’ Association, announced that Turkiye’s fresh fruit and vegetable exports reached the level of 1.45 billion dollars in the first half of 2022 and the Mediterranean Region supported this sale by 46 percent.
Ferhat Gürüz said, “As the leader of the fresh fruit and vegetable sector, our Association achieved an export of 668.5 million dollars with an increase of 17 percent between January and June 2022.”
The most important agenda of the sector is the fight against pesticide residues and the use of prohibited and unlicensed pesticides.
Noting that the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), European Union and Middle East countries are predominant in the export of the Turkish fresh fruit and vegetable sector, Gürüz added, “It is of great importance for our sector to act in coordination in the fight against pesticide residues, banned and unlicensed pesticides, especially in order to strengthen the Turkish brand in the European Union market. In this regard, we proposed the model of compulsory and responsible agricultural consultancy offices, such as building inspection companies in construction, to our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Our farmers will carry out their spraying and fertilization programmes under the control and supervision of these offices. Even if pesticide residues are found in the harvested products, the agricultural consultancy offices will be responsible.”
“We believe that with the establishment of this structure, we will provide a radical solution to the residue problem. With the strong support of all the stakeholders of our industry, we continue our efforts to implement this model as soon as possible,” he concluded…