The organizers of Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, have decided to cancel the upcoming Europatat Congress 2020, scheduled for June 11-12 in Brussels, following the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe.

The decision is meant to safeguard the wellbeing of the participants, speakers and partners during this time. Over the last few weeks, the coronavirus outbreak has caused widespread disruption to businesses around the world, and not least to companies involved in the trade of agricultural products. Following the emergency measures taken by EU Member States, agri-food business are reporting increasing difficulties in their daily operations. The potato sector faces, thus, a difficult time and will have many priorities to address over the coming months and across the rest of the year, according to a press release from the organizers.

Raquel Izquierdo de Santiago, managing director of Europatat, concludes: “The situation is changing rapidly around Europe, and unfortunately not with the best prospects for our event. We had worked in earnest and with much enthusiasm on this year’s theme around digitalization, but unfortunately, the circumstances we are confronted with are out of everyone’s control”.

The next Europatat Congress will take place May 30-31, 2021, in Dublin, Ireland, within the framework of the World Potato Congress (WPC) 2021, which will be held from May 31 to June 3. The WPC expects to gather 1,000 participants from all across the globe, including growers, researchers, producers, traders, processors and manufacturers. Both the Europatat Congress and the WPC will become a week-long event focused on the potato, the third most important food crop in terms of global consumption.

The organizers of Europatat, the European Potato Trade Association, have decided to cancel the upcoming Europatat Congress 2020, scheduled for June 11-12 in Brussels, following the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe.

The decision is meant to safeguard the wellbeing of the participants, speakers and partners during this time. Over the last few weeks, the coronavirus outbreak has caused widespread disruption to businesses around the world, and not least to companies involved in the trade of agricultural products. Following the emergency measures taken by EU Member States, agri-food business are reporting increasing difficulties in their daily operations. The potato sector faces, thus, a difficult time and will have many priorities to address over the coming months and across the rest of the year, according to a press release from the organizers.

Raquel Izquierdo de Santiago, managing director of Europatat, concludes: “The situation is changing rapidly around Europe, and unfortunately not with the best prospects for our event. We had worked in earnest and with much enthusiasm on this year’s theme around digitalization, but unfortunately, the circumstances we are confronted with are out of everyone’s control”.

The next Europatat Congress will take place May 30-31, 2021, in Dublin, Ireland, within the framework of the World Potato Congress (WPC) 2021, which will be held from May 31 to June 3. The WPC expects to gather 1,000 participants from all across the globe, including growers, researchers, producers, traders, processors and manufacturers. Both the Europatat Congress and the WPC will become a week-long event focused on the potato, the third most important food crop in terms of global consumption.