Spain’s Coordinator of Farmers and Ranchers Organisations (COAG) is taking legal steps to challenge what they claim is unfair competition of Moroccan tomatoes.
Spain has been the traditional supplier of tomatoes to the European Union, but in recent years, Morocco has gained ground, now surpassing Spain in exports to the continent.
The source of tension is Morocco’s trade agreement with the EU, which allows for certain tomatoes to enter without paying tariffs.
COAG claims that Morocco has exceeded the agreed-upon tariff-free limits by around 230,000 tonnes annually since 2019.
They also claim that this has resulted in a loss of millions of euros for Spain, estimating €71.7 million in tariffs that Morocco has avoided paying.
COAG has already taken the matter to the EU Court of Auditors in a bid to address what they call a breach of trade rules.
After struggling to get a response from the European Commission, COAG has found support from their French counterparts, Confédération Paysanne.
At the “Fair Prices for Farmers” conference in Brussels, COAG’s delegation, led by Andrés Góngora, met with the French group to discuss potential legal actions.
“We are working closely with Confédération Paysanne and believe we can make progress,” said Góngora. “We are considering two options: filing a case in Spain and France or going directly to the European Court of Justice.”
The plan is to link the surplus tomato imports to the broader issue of the EU-Morocco trade agreement, which COAG argues should be revisited.
Legal experts from a French firm have suggested that challenging the agreement’s legality could help address the situation.
While the European Commission has left it up to each member state to enforce tariffs, Spain has not received a clear response from its Ministry of Agriculture.
Despite this, COAG seeks a solution saying that this dispute is not only about tomatoes but about the broader issues of fair competition and trade regulation.
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