Fruit and vegetable professionals to protest export ban

Fruit and vegetable export professionals in Morocco will set up a protest next week in Inezgane Ait Melloul, to demand he government reconsiders its export ban.

This came after the decision to forbid the export of potatoes and onions to African countries, with the exception of Senegal.

Given the lack of communication from government agencies in charge of handling this case, fruit and vegetable export professionals have become more agitated.

The government restricted the export of vegetables, particularly to African markets due to recent price increases and the social unease that the nation experienced as a result of Moroccan families’ declining purchasing power.

Professional sources questioned the ministerial institutions’ choice to restrict their export activities to Senegal alone, stating that the exporters suffered significant financial losses because of the ban’s prolonged imposition.

This choice might lead to a diplomatic conflict with Mauritania, which serves as a transit nation for Moroccan trucks, according to Hamad Zamrani, head of the Moroccan Association of Exporters of Various Commodities to Africa and Abroad.

“Morocco has close ties with all of Africa; it is therefore not possible to limit it to the state of Senegal only, but it must be allowed to export vegetables to all of the continent” said Zamrani.

Despite the abundance of vegetables in Moroccan marketplaces, “the decision to export potatoes and onions is still imposed on professionals, even if the context that prompted the decision to be taken in Ramadan no longer exists.”

A member of the Moroccan Association of Exporters of Various Commodities to Africa and Abroad stated that the Minister of Agriculture must now step in to resolve this issue.

After professionals spoke with the governor of Inezgane Ait Melloul about the matter a few days ago; he denied that the ban had been implemented by the Ministry of the Interior, according to the member of the Moroccan Association of Exporters of Various Commodities to Africa and Abroad.