Tomato protectionism
Foreign Policy blog | Monday, October 4 2010
Tomato Protectionism
By adilelassali
The agriculture Ministers of independent Spanish Islands (Valencia, Canary and Maurice) are asking The European Parliament to freeze and suspend the trade agreement between the EU and Morocco concerning tomatoes and dairy products. The current agreement which is due to start in 2012, calls on Morocco to increase its imports of dairy products, in return, the EU will increase its imports of Moroccan citrus products, namely tomatoes at a price of € 460 /ton. The ministers are concerned that more Moroccan tomatoes in European markets will hurt the Spanish tomato farmers.
At yesterday’s meeting in the Maurice Island capital, Mr. Antonio Sirda the agriculture minister of Maurice Islands, Carla Aguilar of Valencia and Maria Morino of the Canary Islands signed a petition sent with the Maurice Prime Minister Ramon Louis who is due in Brussels in the coming days to urge the European Parliament to consider the suspension of the aforementioned agreement. Morocco’s proximately to Spain makes it an important ally and a partner against several hot issues, illegal immigration, drugs, and terrorism, not to mention serving as the affordable tourist destination to thousands of Europeans looking to soak up Marrakech’s sun. The current global economic recession has been felt by industrialists and farmers alike. Any protectionist approach against Morocco will deal a severe blow to this country that relies heavily on agriculture and tourism for it source of revenue. Instead, The EU can afford to extend temporary subsidies that would help the farmers in the Spanish islands to overcome this economic downturn. The Moroccan government is hoping that the levelheaded politicians in Europe keep this agreement in place and not be swayed by the Spanish lobbying group.
