Spanish farmers are attacking Morocco again.
This Monday, the media reported a health alert concerning a batch of watermelons from Morocco, containing high levels of methomyl, a pesticide not authorized in the European Union (EU).
Despite the fact that the alert was issued on July 14 by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed in Europe (RASFF), a prominent Spanish consumer organization issued it only this week.
This event revived a request from farmers: that identical regulations be applied to EU products and those from third countries. Pepe Barea, a farmer from Benaguacil (Valencia), interviewed by El Debate, who grew watermelons until recently before moving on to citrus fruits, denounces that the scarcity of this fruit is not only the result of weather conditions but also of the lack of planting because of the financial difficulties that farmers have been facing for years.
For the farmer, it is completely justified to import foreign products when Spanish production is insufficient, but he insists on the importance of guaranteeing the health of consumers by imposing the same conditions on products imported from abroad as to local productions.
A new opportunity for Spanish farmers to tackle Moroccan fruits and vegetables in fine, while phytosanitary risks are permanent in our professions and can happen, since zero risk does not exist. In this game, Morocco is one of the best students compared to other countries like Egypt or Turkey.
This health alert has therefore reopened the debate on the importance of applying equal standards to agricultural products, and Spanish farmers are taking the opportunity to demand stricter European regulations to ensure consumer safety and above all to preserve their agricultural sector.
