Fresh Plaza
After the constitution of the Tomato Group within the framework of the Spanish-Moroccan Mixed Committee, representatives of both countries’ Administrations, of the producer organisations Asaja, Coag and UPA, and of federations and associations representing the trading firms, met yesterday in Casablanca, Morocco.
Their aim was to analyse the adherence to the Partnership Agreement that Morocco currently has with the European Union, and also the development of the current campaign, with the aim of exchanging information and listing those aspects where there is room for improvement for the benefit of the sector dedicated to the production and sale of tomatoes in both markets.
Some of Spain’s representatives included the President of Coexphal, Manuel Galdeano; the President of Unica Group, José Martínex Portero; the Organisational Secretary of UPA-Almeria, Roque García and the Technical Director of Asaja-Almeria, Ángel López.
The Spanish sector informed Morocco about the importance of adhering to the phytosanitary protocols established by the EU in products exported to the continent to avoid damaging Europe’s tomato market. In this sense, both UPA’s and Asaja’s representatives stated that Morocco has shown willingness to advance in this respect. They assure that “Morocco is increasingly implementing integrated production in their plantations and introducing cutting edge technology in the production process,” informed Ángel López.
The Spanish sector insisted on the need for Morocco to strictly meet the conditions of the Partnership Agreement and that, “in no case products should enter the EU under the minimum established price, as in these cases both Moroccans and Spaniards will lose money,” affirmed sources from UPA.
Regarding the development of the campaign presented by Morocco’s representatives, Asaja’s Technical Director stressed that, “they assure that this year they exported 9% less tomatoes. This was due, as they explained, to a series of problems caused by adverse weather conditions, which had a toll on both production volumes and the quality of the tomatoes obtained.”
The goal of the representatives that form the Moroccan delegation is for the Tomato Group of the Spanish-Moroccan Mixed Committee to meet at least three times a year. Nevertheless, part of the Spanish sector believes that the same results would be obtained from a single annual meeting.
Source: Ideal
Publication date: 3/26/2013
