In response to a call from Légumes de France, as well as the FDSEA 66 and JA 66 unions, a new mobilization is taking place today, May 16th, from 9am in Perpignan. The aim is "to start the procession from Saint-Charles towards the southern tollgate of the A9 highway." The producers are targeting the massive imports of Moroccan produce, tomatoes in particular, "which have increased by more than 40% between 2014 and 2023, with volumes imported into the EU rising from 345,000 tons to almost 492,000 tons."
Légumes de France points out that this new action is supported by Spanish tomato growers as well (represented in particular by FEPEX).
Mobilization in February 2024 / © FDSEA 66
"French production is large enough to meet the domestic demand"
"Farmers are furious about the massive imports of Moroccan produce," just as the French summer fruit and vegetable season is getting underway. The growers are protesting against the over-representation of imported products on the shelves, especially "Moroccan cherry tomatoes, which remain on French shelves at the height of the French production period (April to October). The French cherry tomato production is currently large enough to meet the consumer demand, but supermarket chains are deliberately choosing to snub French tomatoes in favor of Moroccan tomatoes."
The demands already made to the French public authorities are being reiterated to MEPs this time, in the run-up to the European elections:
• a review of EU-Morocco agreements on agricultural products ;
• a revision of the consumer information regulation aimed at making the origin of products more visible to French consumers. The flag of the producer country must be printed with a height of at least 15 mm and the written indication of origin in the immediate vicinity of the flag. The indication of the product's origin must be displayed on the upper side of the product packaging (the side most visible on the shelf) and the indication of the place and country of packaging must be written in a smaller font size than that of the country of origin.
For more information:
FDSEA 66
Phone: 04 68 51 39 11
[email protected]