Europe makes market access more difficult, Morocco responds by targeting more exports
A European reform could make it more difficult for Moroccan fruit and vegetables to access the EU market. Yet, after meeting European professionals in Agadir, Morocco’s sector is displaying another ambition: adapting to the new requirements and selling more abroad.
Brussels wants to prevent the most dangerous pesticides, banned in European agriculture for health or environmental reasons, from re-entering the Union through imported products. Today, these products must already comply with European residue limits. The European Commission is studying a stricter alignment of production rules for certain substances. The details remain to be defined.
On Bladi.net : A Pesticide Reform Could Drive Moroccan Tomatoes Out of Europe
Morocco has good reason to follow this matter: its tomatoes are among the products examined in the European impact scenarios. A study had estimated at 2.8 billion dollars the Moroccan exports potentially exposed. This amount refers to trade covered by the scenarios under consideration, not sales that have already been lost.
In Agadir, Morocco Foodex brought together Moroccan and European professionals in mid-September to discuss the changes expected in the EU and United Kingdom markets. The conclusion of this meeting, reported on September 22 by Eurofruit, is assertive: participants believe Morocco’s fruit and vegetable sector is well placed to adapt and increase its exports.
Solutions in the Souss, an outlet through Tanger Med
More than thirty speakers took part in the discussions. They included representatives of Freshfel Europe and the British Fresh Produce Consortium. The following day, participants visited the Maroc Citrus research center in the Souss, where integrated methods for combating fruit flies are being developed. They also visited a sorting and packing facility for tomatoes intended particularly for Europe.
On Bladi.net : Morocco supplies 8 % of fruit and vegetable imports into the EU, but appears infrequently in pesticide alerts
The other advantage highlighted by Eurofruit is logistics. More than 80% of Morocco’s fresh fruit and vegetable exports pass through Tanger Med. During peak periods, the port handles around 700 trucks carrying fresh produce per day before it is transported to Spain.
The European reform has not yet established the new obligations that exporters will have to meet. But Morocco is already preparing its production methods and relying on its proximity to Europe to defend its position in this market. In Agadir, the sector made clear that it intended to go further: using this adaptation to export more.
