SUMMARY OF QUALITY PRODUCTS NETWORKING BREAKOUT SESSION

“Certification and valorisation of Mediterranean productions, food safety and organic products”

Quality, safety and certification, are the keywords of all international markets in the food sector. The level of attention to these issues has been growing since the mid-90s till today for the fresh fruit and vegetable compartment, where the great distribution platforms in Europe have established numerous voluntary standards (BRC, IFS, GlobalGAP and others) – that are in relation to mandatory regulations. The experiences and testimonies made during the third session of the GreenMED Forum showed the clear need to disseminate the culture of quality in all areas and at all levels, in the Mediterranean basin. A large part of farmers may be able to supply the international markets, both in terms of quantity and quality of products. But this is not always possible because of the large number of mandatory and voluntary standards that, in some cases, are considered an obstacle to free trade. Therefore, a good part of the Mediterranean farmers, especially the small and medium sized ones, are currently outside the processes of international trade.

The Egyptian experience of “E-Trace”, recently followed by the association of agricultural Maghreb operators UMAGRI of Tunisi, stands precisely in the direction indicated. Traceability of products, distributed at different levels of production chains, represents a useful tool during all stages of production processes, able  to control the pathways of food, demonstrating their origin and their final status. A valuable tool for farmers, packers and handlers of the product, carriers, distributors and consumers all over the globe.

The voluntary certification processes, already applied in some Mediterranean countries (primarily Turkey, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), can be a too high cost for small and medium farmers, both in terms of economic resources and technical support that is necessary for their implementation and maintenance. One of the possible solutions that emerged during the final debate is represented by the development of the Producers' Organizations model, as already happens in the European Union, in order to encourage the concentration of supply, through the aggregation of individual producers, providing  common services to all farmers, not considering their economic size. This could allow to manage  the technical assistance programs in the field and in the later stages of product handling, ensuring control of the production phases and all processes that could thus obtain the necessary approval through their certification.
In conclusion it will be necessary to look at raising the awareness of operators and institutions to:


•    The implementation of quality programs, improving coordination between public and private operators, including through technical assistance programs which promote forms of aggregation of agricultural producers;
•    Improving the control of entire sectors, primarily through self-assessment of the individual actors, providing adequate means;
•    Improving  vertical communication between operators in the entire chain to ensure, through the tracking, traceability of products;
•    The consolidation of national quality and safety systems, networked with other systems of the Mediterranean countries and European;
•    Encouraging the creation of private laboratories and certification bodies accredited, with their own resources in the places of use, in network with their equivalents on the other shore of the Mediterranean;
•    The application of shared procedures and equivalent between the control authorities of the countries of both shores of the Mediterranean, facilitating the entry of goods maintaining standards for quality and safety;
•    Improvement of the structures of logistical support for the facilitation of trade by reducing transport time, including the improvement of maritime transport systems dedicated to meeting priorities, the needs of highly perishable fresh fruit and vegetables.

Serious consideration should be given to the proposal of a Mediterranean brand that could join some typical products of the region and meet the goals of identity, quality and safety, and environmental protection. Such a brand, that should be created for marketing purposes, would be complementary and would act as an umbrella for the rich Mediterranean products' basket, without necessarily conflict with trade marks and existing awards. On the contrary, it could help spread the Mediterranean culture by promoting its penetration into the consumer's daily life. In such manner a complementary Protocol to GlobalGAP could be promoted for the fruit and vegetables sector, through which an agreement can be made for recognition in benchmarking (like in other regions such as China, the most recent with the recognition of ChinaGAP).


This protocol may provide guidance and promote the spread of Good Agricultural Practices in the Mediterranean, in agreement with what already happens in the countryside, in keeping with good agricultural, agronomic and, more broadly, cultural traditions of Mediterranean agriculture. This could allow a better dissemination of the needed "common language" in the territories of the two shores of the Mediterranean, helping define and continuously improve the methods of agricultural production, combining tradition with the modern consumer's needs. The certification of third party to this protocol of production, then, could further enhance the products' penetration into international markets, thus helping farmers to effectively manage their operations and have greater visibility in the markets. Of course, the next step should be accomplished by communicating this competitive effort to consumers in more lucrative markets and in appropriate ways and forms.

It’s therefore necessary to create a Euro-Mediterranean network (between public and private institutions) to develop training programs, applied research and dissemination of the " Mediterranean Quality" culture.


by Carmelo Sigliuzzo
CIHEAM – MAIB Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari

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