The association wants the panel to consider the merits of the findings of a report, which stated that citrus black-spot disease, a fungus that causes fruit blemishes and sometimes affects South African produce, can’t be established or spread to EU fruits, Chief Executive Officer Justin Chadwick said.

Citrus from the country, which represents about a third of all the EU’s imports, has been subject to more stringent checks to prevent the spread of the disease to the bloc, the European Commission, the EU’s administrative arm, said in May. While the International Plant Protector Convention, which aims to stop the movement of pests, has a dispute-resolution mechanism that South Africa wanted to start in 2010, it was postponed to allow the EU to do its own assessment.

Available: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-south-africa/sa-citrus-growers-want-independent-panel