At a time when French farmers are mobilizing against the signing of a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, the meeting of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee on November 18th was an opportunity to look again at the consequences of another free trade agreement between the EU and Morocco on agricultural products. Despite the very clear evidence of its harmful effect on European and French tomato producers, the European Commission continues to turn a deaf ear, pretending that there is no problem.
At the request of Spanish MEP Carmen Crespo Díaz, the aim of this debate was to analyze the consequences of the latest decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the annulment of the extension to Western Sahara of the benefits of the EU-Morocco free trade agreements on agricultural products.
These rulings by the European Court of Justice directly affect the conditions under which tomatoes are exported to Europe.
The first case follows an appeal by the Polisario Front against the 2019 agreement between the EU and Morocco extending to Western Sahara the benefits of the EU-Morocco free trade agreement on agricultural products, which had the effect of deeming tomatoes produced in Western Sahara to be Moroccan. This meant that tomatoes produced in Western Sahara could benefit from substantial customs advantages.
The second, directly related, case arose from an appeal by the Confédération paysanne (French farmers' confederation) demanding that tomatoes and melons produced in Western Sahara receive the Western Sahara (and not Morocco) label.
In both cases, the Polisario Front and the Confédération paysanne won their respective (and definitive) cases. As a result, within a year, agricultural products from Western Sahara will no longer be considered Moroccan and will no longer benefit from the ultra-favourable customs conditions of the free trade agreement between the EU and Morocco. From now on, tomatoes from Western Sahara must be labelled as such on the shelves.
Following unanimous calls from MEPs, the European Commission representative was unable to give any guarantees regarding the control of imports from Morocco. Logically, we should see a drop in the volume of tomatoes exported from Morocco to the EU from 2026. Will this actually be the case?
Since cherry tomatoes from Western Sahara are available on the French market for a good part of the year, we should theoretically soon see trays with the Western Sahara label. However, no specific control measures have been announced by the European Commission.
Imports of Moroccan tomatoes have increased sharply
Over the 2022-2023 season, 424,690 tons of Moroccan tomatoes have been imported into France, compared with 394,740 tons in 2021-2022, an increase of 7.6%*. In value terms, the increase is more than 168 million euros [176 million USD], or 27.5%!
The main Moroccan cherry tomato operator, according to its own statements, exports 60,000 tons of cherry tomatoes to France every year, giving it a 52% share of the French cherry tomato market in 2023.
Here again, despite these figures, the European Commission replies that the market is in no way disturbed by tomatoes from either Western Sahara or Morocco.
Following the decisions of the European Court of Justice, French tomato producers and their Spanish counterparts are due to meet with the European Commission in the coming weeks. This meeting will provide an opportunity to reiterate the following demands:
- A return to a balance in Moroccan tomato imports based on seasonality: lower volumes of Moroccan tomatoes imported during the peak French production season;
- Customs duties to balance out the difference in shelf prices between cherry tomatoes produced in France and those produced in Morocco;
- Customs duties that clearly distinguish between small-caliber tomatoes (less than 47 mm in diameter) and round tomatoes 47 mm in diameter and over;
- Morocco to apply the rulings of the CJEU concerning the exclusion of Western Sahara from the benefits of the EU-Morocco agreements and the labelling of tomatoes from Western Sahara as such.
For more information:
www.tomates-de-france.com/