European Tomato Industry Struggles as Moroccan Exports Surge

The growing competition from Morocco, which is flooding the European market with its tomatoes, was at the heart of the debates during the meeting of the Contact Group on Tomatoes of the Joint Fruit and Vegetable Committee of France, Italy and Spain in Almería. The kingdom is the second largest supplier of tomatoes to the European Union, after the Netherlands, recalls Huffpost.

During this meeting, industry professionals expressed their concern about the "unfair" competition from Morocco, which takes advantage of its association agreement with the EU to flood the community market with its tomatoes, causing huge damage to European producers. One of the participants insisted on the need to establish fair and strict standards in terms of the environment (phytosanitary standards) and labor.