Spanish Growers Demand EU Tighten Restrictions on Moroccan Tomato Imports

FEPEX has asked the European Commission (EC) to modify the IFV established in October 2014 as part of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), reports Les Inspirations Eco. In other words, the federation is calling for a change in the conditions of access of the Moroccan tomato to the European market, particularly the method of calculating the Standard Import Value (IFV) to the European community market.

FEPEX explains the merits of its request: Spanish exports to the EU fell by 12% between October 2019 and April 2020 compared to the previous season with 518,520 tonnes due to the strong competition from Moroccan tomatoes. According to the federation’s data, the kingdom exported 432,274 tonnes during the same period.

The federation suggests taking into account only the prices of round tomatoes. These prices were taken into account for the setting of the conventional entry price of the Association Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco. In addition, FEPEX believes that the information collected on Morocco does not reflect the reality of the market.

Last March, FEPEX, the association of producer organizations "Tomatoes and Cucumbers of France" (AOPn) and the Italian Confederation of Agriculture (CIA) had already addressed a request to the European Commissioner for Agriculture to change the conditions of access of the Moroccan tomato to the EU during a videoconference meeting, recalls the same source.