by GERARD LEPUIL (trans. by MEGHAN O’SHEA)
Litigation over imports of Moroccan tomatoes to Europe was resolved at the end of June, following a telephone conversation between the European Commissioner for Agriculture and the Moroccan Minister of Agriculture. However, details of the contents of the agreement were lacking, just as the precise reasons underlying the disagreement are still unknown.
Despite not having a full accounting of the details, it is believed that Morocco, through an alleged fraudulent use of its customs clearance system, exceeded its European export quota of tomatoes. It is claimed that this will now be more difficult to accomplish. However, Morocco says it will bring a complaint before the European Court of Justice prior to July 15th. Officially, the country exports more than 350,000 tons of tomatoes to Europe, per year, of which 80,000 are cherry tomatoes. More than half of these are sold in a single country: France.
From Agadir to Paris, a tomato truck drives over 3,078 km with transportation costs amounting to € 4,100, or 30% of the total cost of production.
That is not the case for French producers. Supermarkets’ buying power is more powerful than necessary. Although imports are not needed to meet demand, they allow retailers to reduce the number of purchases from French producers, causing prices to fall.
When buying tomatoes, check their country of origin, and ask some questions before buying Moroccan tomatoes. We have good reasons to buy French grown tomatoes. A Moroccan tomato has a disastrous carbon footprint, as the place of production is so very far from the place of consumption. A tomato picked in the Agadir region and consumed in France has traveled 905 km by refrigerated truck, even before it crosses the Strait of Gibraltar by boat.
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