NEW LIMITS ON CHINESE TOMATO SAUCE IMPORTS. CUSTOMS GETS STRICT

The rules are changing for tomato sauce imported from China. The opening for entry of tomato concentrate imports from other countries, will now have the condition that the finalized Italian product must then be re-exported in the same amount and percentage to other countries. The new rules were ordered by the Customs Agency for all offices within Italy. In other words, temporary imports based on “equivalence” principles have been banned and only those based on “identity” are authorized. The goal of this initiative is to limit the presence and use on the Italian market of re-elaborated products that were originally imported, primarily from China.

These measures were received with satisfaction by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Policies, Gianni Alemanno, who has repeatedly asked for urgent measures to protect Italian grown tomatoes. “The decision made by Customs officials”, confirmed the minister, “will create notable benefits for the modified tomato sector: it is another step ahead, after the recent ministerial decree that now imposes mandatory printing of the origin of tomatoes on package labels, in attempts to protect Italian agricultural products”. This measure will go into effect next June 15th. “We can now avoid”, continued Alemanno, “the risk that products imported from other countries, above all China, pass as products of Italian origin. It is still essential, however, to continue an attentive programming of sector investments and negotiations, in order to reduce negative consequences that the excess of production could have, such as the lowering of prices of tomato products derived from imported materials”.

In the past four years, notes Confagricoltura, an average 150,000 tons of tomato concentrate has been imported to Italy from China, with a peak of 170,000 tons registered in 2005. Italy is the second largest tomato product producer worldwide, after the United States, with last year’s annual production at about 5 million tons (less than the previous year) according to Coldiretti. Italy bought 545,000 tons of canned or bottled tomatoes at a cost of 442 million euros. And Italian families bought, on average, 31 kg of tomatoes last year, with peeled tomatoes the top choice (14 kg), pureed tomatoes second (11 kg), then tomato pulp (5 kg), and lastly concentrate and other derivatives (1 kg).