‘Uncontrolled’ Moroccan tomato imports sold at “ruinous prices” in European markets have led to the loss of 12,500 jobs in Spain over the past 12 months, the tomato committee of Spanish federation Fepex has claimed.
The situation, the committee argued, has come about through Moroccan “non-compliance” with the volumes and prices set out by its agreement of association with the European Union.
In fact, Fepex claimed that Moroccan exporters had surpassed their export volume quotas established by the accord by 120 per cent in October and 37 per cent in November.
The association said Moroccan “non-compliance” with the treaty had led to Spanish tomato exporters being “thrown out” of what had been one of their traditional, principal export destinations: St Charles market in Perpignan, France.
In November, Fepex said an estimated 27,589 tonnes of Moroccan tomatoes were being sold in St Charles, compared with just 4,879 tonnes from Spain.
With a new agreement of association between the EU and Morocco still to be ratified by the European Parliament, the committee is this week stepping up its campaign to convince MEPs to vote against the deal.
“The situation is unsustainable for the Spanish tomato sector, especially in provinces such as Almeria and autonomous regions like the Canaries and Murcia, which already have some of the highest unemployment in the EU,” Fepex added.
