In October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered two rulings invalidating trade agreements with Morocco on agricultural and fisheries products, arguing "the lack of consent of the people of Western Sahara", and requiring products grown in the region to be labeled as such. The CJEU has established a period of twelve months for the decrees to come into force. Meanwhile, several Moroccan exporters claim that the decision "is being misused to impose a de facto embargo on products from the Moroccan Sahara, particularly in France."
According to several corroborating accounts, French trade unionists and political activists have joined forces in an "alliance of circumstance" to track down products from Moroccan Sahara, which can be identified by their GGN (Global Gap Number), by the indication of their origin in supermarkets, or by their seasonality. For example, at this time of year, only Dakhla's cantaloupes are available from Morocco, making them easy to identify. Moroccan industry sources report that "trade unionists and activists in France are blocking shipments, staging impromptu demonstrations, and going so far as to threaten importers."
Growers based in Dakhla, the largest agricultural area in the Moroccan Sahara, can export their products without administrative or legal obstacles, obtaining phytosanitary and EUR1 certificates and clearing their shipments through customs under normal conditions. On the other hand, importers and retailers prefer to avoid dealing with protesters, according to Moroccan trade sources, resulting in a de facto embargo on Dakhla's fresh produce in France.
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A melon grower based in Dakhla testifies: "We are facing an orchestrated campaign to harm Moroccan growers, led by separatist activists with a political agenda, hand in hand with French trade unionists who are riding the wave to limit fresh produce imports from Morocco".
The grower continues: "The premeditated nature of the campaign was revealed when the very first truck of cantaloupe arrived in France, only to be blocked for by a welcoming committee of activists. The shipment never arrived at its destination. The same goes for tomatoes, melons, and watermelons. These people track down products all the way to the markets and shelves, destroying them and improvising actions to intimidate importers and even consumers. Unfortunately, many importers give in."
A segmentation tomato grower based in Dakhla says: "The atmosphere is really poisoned. Some members of agricultural unions in France are using thuggish methods, threatening sellers with reprisals if they import products from the Moroccan Sahara. It's no longer fair competition when political cards and sabotage actions are used. We're at an impasse because, for our part, we'll never accept to label our tomatoes as anything other than Made in Morocco. The perpetrators of these acts should know that they're playing a dangerous game, they're exploiting our national and territorial unity for tomato stories."
According to professional sources, some exporters manage to escape scrutiny by shifting the seasonality of their produce. One exporter explains: "Some melon and watermelon growers in Dakhla have delayed planting so that the fruit arrives at the same time as that from other regions such as Marrakech. In France too, importers indicate the place of packing rather than the place of growing, to avoid the attention of demonstrators. These are individual solutions, but we need a collective and straightforward approach to end this mess. Many small-scale growers of tomatoes, melons, and watermelons are unable to export this season. Others who do manage to export are sickened by the need to resort to these methods."
"Our government is called upon to act, and quickly. On the other side, trade unions are using all means to put obstacles in the way of agricultural trade. The Moroccan administration and diplomacy need to get busy because things are only getting worse, and we don't know how far this can go," a representative of Moroccan exporters says.