Rabat – Tomato producers from France and Morocco are expected to sign a bilateral agreement to regulate tomato seasonality and ensure a fair market competition.
Agriculture-focused website Reussir reported on Friday that the bilateral agreement is expected to be signed in mid-March, after the two parties reach a consensus to ensure that Moroccan and French cherry tomatoes “do not overlap…during the French season.”
Tensions have been high between marketers from both sides, with French producers complaining about Moroccan tomatoes as they cannot compete with the prices they are sold at.
“These tomatoes are now appearing on French shelves at the beginning of the French season at prices that French producers simply cannot compete with,” the news outlet said, noting that this friction, however, started to ease amid negotiations.
Four meetings took place between French and Moroccan producers’ representatives last year and early this year to reach an agreement.
The agreement seeks to ensure that Moroccan cherry tomatoes are not distributed at the start of the season.
Moroccan produce has been facing pressure in the European market. This pressure has manifested in documented acts of vandalism and violence against Moroccan products, trucks and drivers.
Reports show European farmers raiding and wrecking trucks loading Moroccan vegetables, including tomatoes, in various countries, including Spain and France. Several videos show farmers setting the foreign trucks on fire and destroying the produce they were carrying.
These farmers have been reportedly acting in protest against what they perceive as “unfair competition” from non-EU countries.
Last year in February, Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita commented on this tense campaign targeting Moroccan produce in the EU markets.
He stated that “agricultural products coming from the South are being intercepted,” noting that such attacks come as the European Union has a “surplus with Morocco of around 600 million euros.”
The Moroccan foreign minister continued to say that the EU significantly exports to Morocco “agricultural products, grains, and others.”
These negative sentiments and acts against the Southern market are not logical, he said, noting that the EU achieves a surplus estimated at €10 billion in its exports with Morocco.
“Trade agreements between Morocco and the European Union are based on strict standards, and they were carefully negotiated to achieve a balance between the interests of all parties,” he added.
