It claims allowing produce from Western Sahara to benefit from tariff advantages will further harm EU producers
Spanish exporter federation Fepex has issued a strongly worded statement against the European Union’s Free Trade Agreement with Morocco, calling it “a paradigm of unfair competition against EU fruit and vegetable producers in the labour, health and environmental sectors”.
The EU-Morocco Association Agreement entered into force in 2000, paving the way for many Moroccan fruits and vegetables to enter the EU with reduced or no tariffs. Today, the EU is Morocco’s largest trade partner, accounting for 59 per cent of its trade in goods in 2024.
Speaking at a round table held on Tuesday in the European Parliament, Fepex advisor Jose María Pozancos said the agreement had already caused serious damage to the Spanish sector, displacing Spain as the leading supplier of tomatoes to the EU. He also noted that the damage would increase with an amendment, approved in October, allowing produce from Western Sahara to benefit from the tariff advantages included in the agreement, as if it were Moroccan territory.
Fepex pointed out that produce from Western Sahara will be labelled “in a way that is confusing for consumers, circumventing EU regulations that require the country of origin to be indicated on products marketed in the EU”.
“In the labour sector, the minimum wage costs for employers in Spain are €9.74 per hour worked, while in Morocco they are €0.98,” Fepex said. “Unfair competition is not only directed at Spanish producers but also at those from other member states, since labour costs in Italy are also much higher than in Morocco, at €9.68/hour, or in Poland where they are €7.43/hour.”
According Pozancos, unfair competition has been occurring for many years in the phytosanitary and environmental sectors, as Morocco uses products prohibited under multilateral environmental protection agreements, such as methyl bromide, which has been banned in the EU since 2005 due to its impact on the ozone layer.
“For Fepex, the EU-Morocco Association Agreement has already caused serious harm to Spanish tomato producers, displacing them as the leading supplier to the EU market since 2022. And unfair competition does not only affect the tomato sector, but the entire fruit and vegetable sector. Since the agreement came into force in 2012, EU imports of fruit and vegetables have increased from 831,338 tonnes to 1.4mn tonnes, a growth of 71 per cent.”
Fepex said it crucial that the European Parliament not ratify the agreement reached in October between the European Commission and Morocco on Western Sahara.
