Spanish fresh produce export federation Fepex has urged the European Commission to renegotiate its newly-completed Agreement of Association with Morocco, claiming that the new import quotas could have “very negative” affects for European exporters.
Fepex said in a statement that it had received confirmation from the Commission that it had concluded negotiations with Morocco over a new agreement, which now awaited ratification by the European Council of Ministers.
However, the federation claimed that the re-worked deal would lead to virtual free access to Europe for Moroccan exporters at quotas that far succeed those that existed under the previous agreement of association.
Fepex claimed that under the new deal, Morocco would have the right to export 257,000 tonnes of tomatoes annually to the EU by 2013 compared with 185,000 tonnes under the prebious agreement – equivalent to an increase of 39 per cent.
The news comes after Fepex and Moroccan export association Apefel had become engaged in a war of words over allegations of fraudulent tomato exports to the European Union, accusations that Apefel has slammed as “lies”.
In a press release, Agadir-based Apefel accused Fepex of making “malicious and false” claims of “fraud” regarding imports of Moroccan tomatoes into Europe.
To support its argument, the association said that Moroccan tomato exports to the EU totalled 17,700 tonnes in October 2009, equivalent to a 35 per cent decrease compared with the same period a year before.
However, in a statement, Fepex responded by claiming that Apefel had recognised that Morocco had surpassed its export limits of 10,600 tonnes for October as agreed with the European Union in an Agreement of Association.
By contrast, the federation said that tomato exports from the three key Spanish production regions of Andalusia, Murcia and Valencia had fallen by an average of 34 per cent during September compared with the same month in 2008.
