Produce Export to EU Gets Harder

Eurogap, a private sector program established by a group of large food retailers to set standards for food safety and quality, will be implemented at the beginning of 2004. The program was agreed to at a food retailers gathering in 2001, and aims to attain a standard level of produce quality by requiring growers to label their products as grown under environmentally friendly conditions. It will allow retailers to gain a competitive advantage and demonstrate their genuine concern for food safety and quality. As of 2004, grocery store chains in the EU will only buy from producers and companies which meet Eurogap standards and have a Eurogap certificate.

In Antalya, the most important produce center in Turkey, exporters are worrying about the transition to the Eurogap system. Speaking about the system, Head of the Exporters Union in Antalya and Ozbasak Agriculture Products Industry and Trade Inc. owner Mustafa Satici said, "It means that the whole process from seeding to packaging of the product is recorded; which farmer grew it, which fertilizer was used, when it was grown, and under which conditions it was grown."

Bilal Ogutcu / Antalya / TURKEY