ROME —Italian farm associations accused France on Friday of starting a trade war by announcing a ban on imports of vegetables from the southern Puglia region because of a bacterial outbreak that has infected hundreds of thousands of olive trees.
French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll announced the blockade Friday, saying he was taking action on a national level pending a decision by the full European Union on a proposed cull of some 10 percent of the estimated 10 million trees in the hard-hit Lecce area of Puglia.
Already, European Commission officials have expressed mounting alarm about Puglia’s xylella fastidiosa infection and have said Italy should consider cutting down the infected olive trees and creating a buffer zone to save the estimated 90 percent of trees that aren’t infected.
Puglian farmers have refused, saying the uprooting of trees won’t halt the bacteria’s spread because trees can be infected without showing symptoms.
