European Commission grants Spain additional quota to withdraw 3,015 tonnes of fruit and vegetables from the market within framework of exceptional measures to cope with Russian veto

The reassignment of this amount, corresponding to the exceptional quotas of 3,000 tonnes not used by six Member States, had been requested by Spain from the Commission, which had conceded our country 3,015 tonnes. This amounts to 17% of the total, and hence Spain remains the second-highest beneficiary Member State, behind only Poland, the country most affected by the Russian veto.

This resolution offers flexibility to Member States in the assignment of this additional quota to products and beneficiaries. In Spain, taking into account the opinion of those organisations representing the sector and following an analysis of the market of products that are currently being harvested, it has been decided to assign this quota in its entirety to apples.

This product is suffering major difficulties in the current campaign - particularly the smaller sizes of apple - due to the high presence in our market of products from other producer Member States, which traditionally exported apples to Russia but which have now altered their exports to the European Union in light of the difficulties in finding alternative markets.

As is habitual since the establishment of the Russian veto and the corresponding exceptional measures taken by the European Union, the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (Spanish acronym: FEGA) will establish the procedure to be followed by the regional governments in managing this quota.