Mutti: 'Chinese imports damage the dignity of Italian tomatoes, EU protects us'
Financial Times: head of leading sauce group urges Brussels to protect farmers affected by 'unfair' competition from China's Xinjiang region
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"We should stop the import of tomato paste from China or add a 60% tax so that its cost is not so different from that of Italian products". This was said to the Financial Times by Francesco Mutti, CEO of the group of the same name that produces passata, pulp and canned tomatoes, which had a turnover of 665 million euro last year. Mutti urged the European Union to 'safeguard' Italian farmers from the 'unfair' competition represented by cheap tomato paste produced in the Xinjiang region and thus restore the 'dignity' of Italy's symbolic red fruit, through bans or, indeed, high tariffs on imports of Chinese products.
"In Xinjiang forced labour", but Beijing denies
The Financial Times recalls that in Xinjiang, the UN Human Rights Commissioner has documented widespread rights violations against the local Uyghur Muslim minority, including forced labour. But Beijing has denied the allegations, reiterating that claims of forced labour in Xinjiang are 'a lie' used by some countries, including the United States, to weaken China and suppress the development of its industries.
Mutti: 'Protect farmers from unfair competition'
'We have to teach our farmers how to grow better, but we also have to protect them from unfair competition,' Mutti, whose company uses only Italian tomatoes, said again. 'Otherwise the end result will not be to improve the environment, but to move our production abroad, where the environment is not protected,' he explained to Ft.
According to the World Processing Tomato Council, it is estimated that China will account for about 23% of world tomato production this year, up from about 18% in 2023.
