A consortium of French farmers’ labor unions is launching a campaign against Morocco’s tomato imports to France, saying that they are “unfairly competitive.”
In a joint press release, the French Federation for Agriculture Unions (FNSEA) and a French labor union denounced the Moroccan tomatoes market competitiveness, calling on French authorities to “inspect” and “flag” tomato imports from Morocco.
Published on September 8 on the FNSEA official Twitter account, the press release was captioned: “Action this Thursday, 11:30 a.m., by farmers from #FNSEA44 against unreasonable imports of morocco tomatoes: a threat to French tomato producers.”
The statement went as far as to suggest that Morocco’s tomato exports to France are sold at a lower price given that they do not respect the production costs and fair compensation for producers, accusing Moroccan producers of not adhering to the “environmental obligations that our society — French society — demands.” But the statement does not specify what the French labor unions meant by “environmental obligations.”
In another section of the statement, French labor unions explain that denouncing the presence of Moroccan tomatoes in French markets is necessary to ensure the European country’s “Food Sovereignty.”
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The two French organizations concluded their statement by announcing plans to launch a ground campaign to flag Moroccan produce with stickers in local markets so as to encourage consumers to opt for “responsible” French tomatoes that are sold at a higher price.
France imports almost 63% of its tomato needs from Morocco, and all imports are subject to strict EU scrutiny that assesses the compliance of exports against the European bloc’s standards.
While the campaign is mainly focused on steering public opinion to favor French local produce, halting Moroccan tomato imports is unlikely to happen any time soon. The reason is that the standing trade deal is signed between Morocco and the EU, rather than between Morocco and France.
SOURCE: Morocco news
