There is less and less area dedicated to tomato cultivation in the province of Almería. More and more product comes from Morocco, exceeding quotas agreed in the agreement established with that country by the European Union and at prices that, given the mix of tomato types, do not convince the sector.
From farmers’ organizations and trade associations, after the United Kingdom left the EU, when Brexit became effective, they asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to defend a review of the agreement in force with Morocco. Well, to the surprise of the Almeria horticultural sector, yesterday in the Sectorial chaired by the deputy director general of Fruits, Vegetables and viniculture, Camino Arroyo, they were informed that the EU will not modify the current agreement, despite the fact that there is a country less (United Kingdom) in community territory, with the relevance it has in the importation of fruit and vegetables. It should be remembered that the British already established their own agreement with the Alawite country once outside the EU, through which they already have a commercial relationship.
The sector does not understand, as Luis Miguel Fernández, manager of Coexphal pointed out, that “when the number of member states was expanded, the quota of the agreement with Morocco was revised upwards, allowing the entry of more volumes of tomato; and now that a country, where there is less market, do not carry out the opposite operation ».
For organizations such as Asaja and Coag, this news is a stick for the producer sector dedicated to tomato cultivation, which will see how it continues to lose competitiveness in a market in which it is increasingly feeling more pressure. Not in vain, year after year tomato surface is lost in Almería due to the fall in its profitability.
Adoración Blanque, general secretary of Asaja Almería, also pointed out that “Morocco is growing in production of zucchini and pepper, and we fear that it will have a negative effect, in the future, for the Almeria plantations.” In addition, the ‘wide hand’ that «there is with the tomato, means that, together with the growth in the market of the entry of other fruits and vegetables, a distortion is generated in the market, which hurts Almería, because it bears higher costs of production”.
For Andrés Góngora, provincial secretary of Coag, although the Ministry assures that it is on the side of the sector and supports it, “the actions say the opposite.” And it is that, “it seems that they do not want to bother Morocco, and if that is why the farmers here are harmed, it does not seem to matter.”
The agrarian leader explained that “it is not understood that the entry of the product is not controlled, that there is no record of tariff payments for the volume that enters exceeding the quota, nor that each time they put more requirements on the Community producers to meet and that products from third countries are not required to do the same ”. Thus, Góngora feels “the abandonment of the administrations” towards some producers who leave their skin to feed Europe. “I am disappointed, we are defenseless against those who lead.”
In the sector, the price situation was analyzed, the Chain Law was also discussed, and accumulated figures on greenhouse and outdoor horticultural production from the current campaign were put on the table.
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