The Union of Small Farmers and Breeders of Andalusia (UPA) asks the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture to “put pressure” on the European Union to revise trade agreements with third countries including Morocco in order to reduce fruit imports from these countries.
Faced with the “significant losses” suffered by Andalusian farmers due to “massive imports of products from third countries, in particular Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey”, the UPA demands urgent and “more energetic” solutions. In a press release signed by his Deputy Secretary-General for Agriculture, Francisco Moscoso expressed his concern about the high importation of tomatoes, watermelons, and summer fruits from these countries on the European market.
This situation “negatively affects prices and cultivated area in Andalusia and leads to unfair competition”, he assures us. This is why the vice-secretary of the organization asks the Ministry of Agriculture to “put pressure” on the European Union to revise the trade agreements with these third countries. “If nothing is done, the small and medium-sized family farms in Andalusia will disappear,” he warns.
According to the UPA, the import of fruits and vegetables from Morocco or Turkey increased by more than 5% in the first half of this year. Over the past five years, “imports from Morocco have increased from 26% to 39% and increased by 132% for watermelon,” data from the customs department indicate.
In view of these findings, Moscoso asks the Ministry of Agriculture to convince Brussels to apply the principle of community preference and revise the quotas in order to reduce imports from third countries including Morocco.
