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Algeria’s Interprofessional Office of Cereals has claimed that its decision to exclude French firms from a recent wheat import tender is due to technical criteria rather than political considerations.
“Regarding the restricted consultation … we clarify that it was governed by specific technical criteria, based on particular industrial needs at that time,” the office said, noting that all grain suppliers on its shortlist are considered “strategic partners.”
“Regardless of the product’s origin, they are treated fairly in all consultations launched during the year 2024,” the office added.
On Wednesday, Reuters quoted trading sources confirming that Algeria’s government instructed all the firms bidding for the wheat import tender against offering wheat of French origin.
The news outlet further interpreted the decisions as an apparent response to France’s recent change to its Western Sahara position.
In July, France’s President Emmaunel Macron announced that his country recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
Paris’ position is that the “present and future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron informed King Mohammed VI in a letter.
Such an interpretation to Algeria’s Algeria’s decision are unsurprising, given the country’s regime’s history of taking retributive action whenever a country publicly supports Morocco’s position on Western Sahra.
In 2022, Algeria recalled its ambassador to Madrid while terminating a 20-year-old Friendship Treaty with the European country in protest of the Spanish government’s declaration of support for Morocco’s Western Sahara position.
In July this year, Algeria’s regime also recalled its ambassador to France and threatened to impose sanctions against Paris.
“This is not a recall of the ambassador for consultation. It is a reduction in diplomatic representation. It is a significant step to express our condemnation and disapproval,” Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Attaf said following recalling Algeria’s envoy to Paris.
