The Fepex Tomato Committee, which represents growers and exporters in Andalusia, Murcia, the Valencian Community, and the Canary Islands, is to urge EU officials not to ratify the agreement between the European Commission and Morocco, Fruitnet informs.
It says the agreement, which extends the tariff advantages currently enjoyed by Morocco to the territories of Western Sahara, will increase competition from Moroccan tomatoes in the trading bloc.
Fepex believes the deal “was negotiated hastily and without transparency”, and that it will “seriously harm the Spanish sector, which will see increased competition from Morocco and the Sahara”.
It points out that the area of greenhouses in the Sahara is expected to grow from the current 1,200ha to 5,000ha in the immediate future, with investments that, according to the Agreement, will be financed by the EU.
Further, Fepex said it believes that the amendment “does not meet the requirements regarding the identification of the product’s origin and the specific, tangible, substantial, and verifiable benefits for the Sahrawi people necessary to consider their implicit consent, as established in the Court of Justice’s judgment of 4 October, 2024, which annulled the 2019 Agreement”.
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“We believe that the extension of tariff preferences to Saharan production provided for in the Agreement will benefit large Moroccan producer groups established in Western Sahara, which compete directly with Spanish producers in EU markets, where they have already displaced Spain as the leading supplier of tomatoes,” Fepex said.
“Therefore, Fepex will initiate actions directed at the European Parliament, the Committee on International Trade, and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to explain why we believe the Commission’s proposal does not comply with the Court of Justice’s ruling, that it contravenes the principles and values of the European Union, and also the serious consequences that the application of this amendment will have for the EU tomato production sector.
“Therefore, Fepex will request that these bodies present the relevant objections and vote against the amendment to the Agreement proposed by the European Commission.”
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