Asaja Alicante-Jóvenes have requested that the Spanish ministry of agriculture convene the Spanish-Moroccan tomato commission for a meeting. At the same time the organisation desires the European Commission to check, whether the Moroccans are keeping to the quantity agreed in the free-trade agreement, which came into force on 1 October.
Tomato prices decreased by 37% on the markets and are lower than the cost of production. This is said to be the result of cheap Moroccan tomato imports in the EU. In French Perpignan, 100 kg of tomatoes for instance, is sold for 30 Euro. This causes heavy losses for continental producers. "The low Moroccan prices not only harm the Spanish growers, but also the Moroccan," Eladio Aniorte, chairman of Asaja Alicante, declared.
This crisis in the prices confirms, according to Aniorte, the misuse of power in the foodstuff chain. "The only ones showing a profit because of this are the big supermarkets. Growers get less than ever before, but the consumers pay the same prices at the Point of Sale as when growers would receive profitable returns. The differences in price do not show in the final price and that is not correct" the chairman emphasized.
Losses in the province Alicante have in the meantime reached more than 16 million Euro. The value of the annual production is at 23 million Euro at the moment, whilst five years ago this was still more than 39 million Euro.