This Thursday, the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food presented the action protocol designed by the Directorate General of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development to prevent theft and robbery during the carob harvesting campaign, which is about to begin. Councillor Mae de la Concha visited the agricultural cooperative of Porreres together with the Director-General of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández. This year’s protocol improves on the one implemented last season after some thefts were recorded due to the high price of this fruit. According to the Regional Minister, De la Concha, “we have improved last year’s protocol to make it more guaranteeing and we are asking for the collaboration of the whole value chain”. The Councillor added that the carob tree “is a commitment from the Regional Ministry because it is a crop for the future, which is not affected by xylella, and which farmers already see as a way forward”.

The protocol for this season aims to guarantee control overall sales operations between producers and cooperatives, storers and companies buying carob. All carob sales transactions in a cooperative, chopper, storer or any other economic operator must be accompanied by the certificate of ownership of the enclosures registered in the Registro Insular Agrario (RIA) as carob. The certificate is issued in the name of the holder of the holding and gives details of all the plots and enclosures, the surface area and their mode of production (dry or irrigated). These certificates, which are issued by FOGAIBA’s commercial delegations, are compulsory for holders of plots registered in RIAS in the preferential or priority category. The certificates will be stamped and signed by the commercial delegation, and allow the plot holder to authorise another person to harvest the carob. To facilitate the procedure, agri-food cooperatives and Agricultural Transformation Companies (SAT) may request the certificates of all their members from the regional delegations of FOGAIBA in two cases. On the one hand, for all members who have processed the CAP declaration in the last financial year. In this case, the representative of the cooperative or SAT will only provide the list of CAP recipients. In addition, for the other members who are holders of holdings, the representative of the cooperative or SAT may request the certificates by providing an authorisation signed by the holder and a copy of the holder’s ID card.

Carob harvesters, both owners and authorised, must give the certificate to the purchaser, who may keep it in order to indicate the origin of successive deliveries during the campaign. Individual owners or owners of leisure and self-consumption holdings that are not registered in the RIA, or owners of plots declared as olive groves or nut farms, where no carob trees are registered, shall replace the certificate with a signed declaration of responsibility, which shall be accompanied by their national identity card and shall also be given to the purchaser.

In the event of any suspicion of theft, the State Security Forces and Corps may inspect the warehouses and premises of cooperatives and ask for proof of purchase.

Carob is one of the most valuable and profitable crops in the Islands’ primary sector. According to statistics from the Agricultural and Fisheries Improvement Services (SEMILLA), 20,358 tonnes of carob were harvested in 2020 and the area of carob trees in production in the Balearic Islands is 10,677 hectares. The increase in value and the high prices at which carob is being paid has led to theft and robbery on many farms in recent years. This protocol lays the foundations for compliance with Law 12/2013, of 2 August, on improving the functioning of the food chain. It is a priority for the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as it aims to ensure that prices are correctly set and that the income received by farmers and the profitability obtained by cooperatives and companies is not compromised.