Spanish Farmers Protest EU-Morocco Trade Deal, Citing Unfair Competition

Last October, the Court of Justice of the EU annulled the 2019 fisheries and agriculture agreements between the EU and Morocco, on the grounds that they were concluded without "the consent of the people of Western Sahara". However, the EU court granted a one-year margin before the application of this decision in order to avoid "serious negative consequences for the external action of the Union".

Spanish farmers express concerns about this additional period, during which they will continue to suffer from Morocco’s unfair competition. According to Andrés Góngora, head of fruits and vegetables at the Coordination of Farmers’ and Ranchers’ Organizations (COAG), labor is less expensive in Morocco, while it represents 50% of the total cost of production in Spain. "The daily wage in Morocco is around 8 euros, while here the hourly cost is ten euros," he explains to El Debate.

He will add: "The Moroccan phytosanitary regulations also allow the use of products to fight illegal pests in Europe, so it is easier for them to produce, because they have more tools. The budgetary leeway is also very beneficial." In the 1970s, King Hassan II adopted an incentive tax system to encourage foreign fruit and vegetable producers to settle in Dakhla, in the Moroccan Sahara, whose lands are favorable to the cultivation of tomatoes, melons and citrus fruits.

For years, Spanish farmers have been denouncing the fraud on the labeling of Moroccan tomatoes, 80% of which are produced in Dakhla, before being transported to Agadir where they are mixed with the rest of the production, making it impossible to identify their origin.

According to COAG data, Moroccan tomato imports into the EU have increased considerably in recent years. In 2022, they accounted for 48% of total imports. Over the past quarter century, Moroccan vegetable imports into the EU have increased by 150%. This massive import has been detrimental to Spanish tomato production, which has fallen from 2,200 hectares in just five years in Almeria.