FARMERS MAINTAIN COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE EU.

The Andalusian fruit and vegetable sector has been up in arms for months to prevent the signing of the free trade agreement between Morocco and the European Union, still pending ratification and will not come into force until 2011.

Fruit and vegetable producers complain about what they consider to be the systematic violation by Morocco of the agreement in force and, above all, They warn of the impact that the new association agreement will have on their farms, which foresees a significant increase in the quota that the North African country will be able to export to Europe.

However, while agricultural pressure intensifies, and also politics, to stop what they call “unfair competition”, In the last year, the presence of Andalusian companies in Morocco has skyrocketed, as have Andalusian exports to the neighboring country..

According to the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Environment, the 80% of strawberry production and 50% of tomato production in Morocco is carried out by Andalusian companies.

Is Morocco an opportunity or a threat??

For the Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios, based in Granada, The misgivings of Andalusian producers about the trade agreement between Morocco and the EU are based on “half truths” and considers that producers on both sides of the Strait should not compete with each other, but complement each other. A position similar to that maintained by the Spanish agricultural authorities.

The Secretary of State for Rural Environment and Water, Josep Puxeu, He claims to be convinced that the new agreement with Morocco will benefit Andalusian companies that operate in that country. “Morocco is an opportunity, It is a country with great growth potential and we must strengthen relations because there are common interests”, says Teresa Sáez, general director of the Andalusian Foreign Promotion Agency (extend), which has confirmed how in the last year the commercial relations of Andalusian firms with the North African country have grown spectacularly.

In the last quarter of 2009, Exports of Andalusian horticultural products to Morocco grew by 26,7% and the 42,44% from January to March of this year. Extenda has accredited the presence of 61 Andalusian companies in Morocco, seven of which have been installed this year.

Also the Minister of Agriculture, Clara Aguilera, asks that Morocco be seen more as an opportunity than a threat. However, Aguilera also uses a discourse of internal consumption with which she demands the “requirement of reciprocity in association agreements between the EU and third countries so that the same conditions apply to products that go to community markets”.

The counselor considers that inspections and controls must be reinforced and recalls the request made to the ministry to tighten the conditions of customs surveillance throughout the national territory., in order to avoid possible non-compliance. Another measure that Andalusia has proposed to the ministry is strict compliance with the production calendar, of the quotas and prices of the current agreement, “as a prerequisite and essential to ratify the new agreement by the European Council of Ministers”. The European Commission has also been requested to launch the Spanish-Moroccan bilateral commission, in which the Andalusian Government has a representative.