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Rabat – Morocco’s Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Exporters has denounced a disinformation campaign against Moroccan tomatoes.
The association issued a statement denouncing a “disinformation campaign” by certain European media outlets against Moroccan produce.
Morocco has for years established itself as the leading non-European supplier of tomatoes to the EU, the association said, adding that this is a position that Morocco has maintained since 2023.
The association attributed this leadership to Morocco’s production quality and the strictness of the inspection system managed by Morocco’s food safety regulator.
It also recalled figures, noting that out of 5,502 notifications concerning imported plant products in the EU between 2020 and 2025, only 49 involved Morocco. This represents less than 1% of the notifications, the association said, adding that the data confirm the “reliability of Morocco’s inspection system managed by ONSSA, which is recognized for its high level of rigor and transparency.”
The statement comes after the news website Que Choisir alleged that numerous pesticide residues were found in non-organic tomatoes from Spain or Morocco.
It further alleged that “more than half of the Moroccan tomatoes analyzed and 80% of the Spanish ones contained multiple pesticide residues, compared to only 15% of the French samples.”
The allegations come as many European producers have been calling for a boycott of Morocco’s products, as they are among the favorites among Europeans, price and quality-wise.
Citing unfair competitiveness, many have also vandalized Moroccan produce and attacked Moroccan trucks in European markets.
In September, data from Euroestacom (Icex-Eurostat) compiled by Hortoinfo, said Moroccan tomato exports to the EU reached 568,370 tons during the 2024/2025 campaign.
Other statistics, from agriculture-focused website EastFruit, said the North African country succeeded in exporting 745,000 tons of tomatoes in 2024/25, setting a new record.
Morocco earned nearly $1.2 billion from tomato sales during the period from July 2024 to June 2025, according to the same data.
