Rabat – tomato producers from France and Morocco are expected to sign a bilateral agreement to regulate tomato seasonality and to ensure a fair market competition.
Agricultural website Reussir reported On Friday that the bilateral agreement is expected to be signed in mid -March after the two parties have reached a consensus to ensure that Moroccan and French cherry tomatoes “do not overlap … during the French season”.
The tensions were high between marketers on both sides, and the French producers complain about Moroccan tomatoes because they cannot compete with the prices to which they are sold.
“This Tomato Are now praises on French shelves at the beginning of the French season, with which French producers simply cannot compete, ”said the news agency and found that this friction began to facilitate negotiations.
Last year and early this year, four sessions took place between the representatives of the French and Moroccan producers to achieve an agreement.
The agreement is intended to ensure that Moroccan cherry tomatoes will not be distributed at the beginning of the season.
The Moroccan products were under pressure on the European market. The Pressure has manifested itself in documented actions of vandalism and violence against Moroccan products, trucks and drivers.
Reports show that European farmers raid and demolition of trucks of Moroccan vegetables, including Tomatoin different countries, including Spain and France. Several videos show that farmers set fire to the foreign trucks and destroy the products they were wearing.
According to protest against behavior, these farmers report what they perceive as a “unfair competition” from non-EU countries.
Last year in February, Nasser Bourita from Morocco -foreign affairs commented On this tense campaign on Moroccan products on the EU markets.
He explained that “agricultural products are intercepted from the south”, and found that such attacks occur because the European Union has a “excess with Morocco of around 600 million euros”.
The Moroccan Foreign Minister continued to say that the EU Morocco exports “agricultural products, grain and others” considerably.
These negative feelings and actions against the southern market are not logical, he said and found that the EU achieves an excess that is estimated at 10 billion euros in its exports with Morocco.
“Trade agreement between Morocco and the European Union are based on strict standards and were carefully negotiated to achieve a balance between the interests of all parties,” he added.
