European Farmers Protest Surge in Moroccan Produce Imports

Taking advantage of the free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), Morocco is flooding the European market with its fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes, protest Spanish and French farmers. "Morocco is violating the law and the EU is doing nothing," they said during a meeting with the press, organized by COAG, the Spanish professional agricultural organization, and attended by the French union Confédération Paysanne, the Polisario Front and the NGO Mundubat.

According to El Debate, COAG denounced on this occasion the EU’s inaction in the face of the invasion of Moroccan products: "At the prices we are at, we will never be able to compete with Morocco and Mercosur," said Manuel Yaben, representative of the Spanish agricultural association. "The products harvested in Western Sahara are not Moroccan. Morocco is violating the law and the European Commission is doing nothing," regretted Manuel Devers, lawyer of the Polisario Front.

Spanish and French farmers consider the massive import of Moroccan fruits and vegetables as unfair competition, as Morocco is not subject to the phytosanitary standards required in the EU. Thanks to the agreement with the EU, Morocco exports 285,000 tons of tomatoes to the EU each year without customs duties. A volume that has reached 500,000 tons since 2019, says Andrés Góngora, head of fruits and vegetables at COAG, which has cost Spain 71.7 million euros over the past five years.

European farmers have also complained about the collapse of tomato prices due to unfair competition from Morocco. "(...) It is a fraudulent system that allows disguising the price and smuggling all types of tomatoes from Morocco. Tomatoes are sold in bulk at a price incompatible with the liquidation of customs duties, as the price of the tomato is lower than the duty itself," explained Góngora.