A fruit wholesaler based in Dordogne was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence alongside a €50,000 fine for mislabeling imported fruits. According to AFP, the products, originating from Morocco, Portugal, and the Netherlands, were labeled as French. The falsely labeled products included raspberries, blueberries, redcurrants, blackberries, blackcurrants, chestnuts, and kiwis.
A consumer fraud watchdog reported that the criminal court found the manager of Fruits Rouges du Perigord guilty of deception for relabeling 412 tons of foreign fruit as French during 2020 and 2021. As stated by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, "The misleading commercial practice involves presenting products as French by falsifying their country-of-origin labeling." The mislabeled shipments accounted for approximately 5% of France's annual red fruit production, amounting to over €1.5 million in revenue.
The fraud was initially uncovered in 2022 by the TV program Zone Interdite, aired on M6. Meanwhile, Morocco remains a key trading partner with the European Union, including France. The Delegation of the European Union to Morocco revealed that trade exceeded €60 billion ($65 billion) in 2024. Specifically, agricultural trade hit a record high of €7 billion ($7.6 billion) in 2024, representing 12% of the goods exchanged. Furthermore, Morocco achieved a trade surplus of more than €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) in the agricultural sector, being the EU's top vegetable supplier with exports exceeding 1 million tons and generating €1.7 billion ($1.84 billion), an increase of 7% in 2023.
Source: Morocco World News
