Rabat – Moroccan minister of agriculture and fisheries, Aziz Akhannouch, said the European Union’s decision to modify mechanisms of the access price for Moroccan fruits and vegetables is both “astonishing and incomprehensible.”
“Moving to modify the access price system for Moroccan fruits and vegetables is a step backward on the negotiations that mobilized for a long period of time Moroccan and European officials,” Akhannouch told MAP.
“We were satisfied over the fairness and balance of the agreement (signed in Febrauary 2012 between Morocco and the EU). But this measure risks to disrupt the balance, becuse of an action that totally contradicts the agreed upon conditions,” he went on.
He added that “the relationship of confidence and sustainable partnership is being jeopardized, arguing that the unilateral decision, which concerns two parties linked by an agreement, threatens the Moroccan fruits and vegetables sector, particularly tomatoes, which depends on a very constraining export system.”
The sector risks simply to collapse, he warned, adding “we cannot even imagine the consequences on a Moroccan sector and operators which have invested and believed in serious outlets for fruits and vegetables.”
