Import value also rose 34 per cent to €952.6mn as Morocco now represents 26 per cent of Spain’s overall fruit and vegetable import value, prompting industry concerns over EU-Morocco trade agreement
Spanish imports of fresh fruits and vegetables from Morocco stood at 416,559 tonnes for the January-August period of 2025, an annual volume increase of 34 per cent.
Data from the Department of Customs and Special Taxes, processed by Fepex, showed that Moroccan fresh produce import value also jumped 34 per cent, up to €952.6mn.
Over the past five years, imports from Morocco for January-August have increased 8 per cent in volume and 58 per cent in value, Fepex noted.
Morocco now represents 26 per cent of Spain’s overall fruit and vegetable import value, which stood at €3.701bn in the eight-month period this year (up 14 per cent).
Of this, 70 per cent of imports – or €2.548bn – was sourced from third countries, with Morocco representing 38 per cent of that total.
”The constant growth of imports from the Maghreb country is being driven, to a large extent, by very specific and unfavourable conditions of competence for the Spanish sector,” said Fepex, noting that production in Morocco does not adhere to the same phytosanitary and labour requirements as those in Spain and the EU.
”This situation will worsen if the European Parliament ultimately ratifies the agreement reached by the European Commission and Morocco last October, which extends to the Sahara the tariff advantages already enjoyed by Moroccan produce under the Association Agreement with the EU,” the association continued.
”This is because it will lead to an increase in Saharan exports to the EU.
”Therefore, Fepex is taking action with the European Parliament, specifically the Committee on International Trade and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, to explain the serious consequences that implementing this agreement will have for the EU tomato production sector and to urge them to reject its ratification,” Fepex added.
