This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Fepex señala una grave crisis en los mercados de hortalizas por las importaciones de Marruecos

Fepex Signals a grave crisis in the markets of hortalizas by the imports of Morocco

30/11/2011

30 November 2011

In November, second month of campaign, Morocco follows breaking the established in the Association agreement with the EU for tomato, so much in the volumes exported as in the prices of entrance, as it already did in October, aggravating the critical situation of the market comunitario, by what FEPEX reiterates the need of the application of the measures of salvaguarda planned in the agricultural protocol in force of the Association agreement of the EU with Morocco. The incumplimiento affects also to other hortalizas like calabacín.

In November and without closing the month, the exports of tomato of Morocco to the EU have situated in 38.000 tonnes, according to the service of surveillance aduanera of the Commission, what supposes that they have surpassed the planned contingent for this month in 37%. Like consequence of the strong increase of the exports in this month the global values of import, representative of the situation of the markets in the European Union, have fallen to 0,41 euros/kilo, price of today, inferior to the established like preferential in the Association agreement, fixed in 0,46 euros/ kilo, aggravating the situation of crisis that has marked this campaign from his start.

In calabacín and from the day 24 November, the Moroccan exports also are underneath of the global value of the import, situating today in 0,34 euros/kilo, inferior to the 0,42 euros/kilo established in the Association agreement

In the month of October also broke the Agreement, as it reported FEPEX. The exports of Moroccan tomato to the EU situated in 23.335 tonnes, whereas the contingent for this month is of 10.600 tonnes, what supposes a rebasamiento of the established in the Agreement of 120%.

For FEPEX, the high volume of the imports to low price, facilitated because they do not pay the rights of corresponding customs, has caused the sinking of the markets comunitarios, aggravating strongly the situation of crisis in which it finds immersed the group of the Spanish sector. Thus it is necessary that apply the planned measures in the article 6 of the Protocol I of the Agreement in force, with the end to correct of immediate form the crisis that has generated in the markets comunitarios of tomato.

The Committee of Tomato FEPEX, composed by producers of the main autonomous communities where cultivates this hortaliza: Andalucia, Murcia, Canaries and Valencian Community will gather the next week, the Wednesday day 7 December, in Almería, to study the grave situation of the market, as well as the process of ratification of the agricultural protocol of the Association agreement of the EU with Morocco in the European Parliament, considering that the current Agreement already is having consequences devastadoras on the Spanish agriculture.