The gradual liberalization of agricultural products since 1996
Since 1969, EU-Morocco agreements have followed a continuous trend towards liberalization. Beginning in 1969 with a simple agricultural protocol (preferential treatment, especially for citrus fruits and early produce, in exchange for quotas), trade has been gradually liberalized, reaching a situation of almost complete free trade since 2012: preferential access for most Moroccan agricultural products to the EU, abolition of most customs duties on processed agro-industrial products, and a sharp increase in quotas for tomatoes, citrus fruits, olive oil and strawberries.
The dismantling of tariffs between Morocco and the European Union has greatly strengthened the competitiveness of Moroccan agriculture, of which tomatoes are a prime example. The country has established itself as a major producer, taking advantage of favourable climatic and geographical conditions. The growing season generally runs from October to May, enabling Morocco to meet European demand during periods of low local production. The sector’s high productivity is based on several factors: almost constant sunshine, widespread use of greenhouses and drip irrigation. In addition, labour costs are relatively low, which helps to keep export prices competitive.
As a result, in 2024, Morocco’s agricultural exports to the European Union reached a record level, generating around €7.7 billion (+3.1% compared to 2023). Europe, particularly France, remains the main market, accounting for 86% of export volumes. Fresh fruit and vegetables form the basis of this trade, with tomatoes remaining the flagship product of Moroccan agricultural exports. Tomato exports reached 649,000 tons in 2024, up 9%, of which 581,000 tons were destined for the EU (+18%). In terms of value, tomatoes account for 29% of Moroccan agricultural exports to the EU, or €1 billion (+3% year-on-year). This momentum is part of a broader trend: between 2014 and 2024, Moroccan agricultural exports jumped by 211%.
At the same time, Morocco is imposing the same productivist agricultural model on Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a non-autonomous territory recognized by the UN as awaiting decolonization. Since 1975, it has been under Moroccan military and administrative control, in the absence of the referendum on self-determination provided for by the United Nations.
In this context, Morocco has gradually established a productivist agricultural model centred on the arid region of Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab and geared towards the export of agricultural raw materials, mainly to Europe.
As part of the Green Morocco Plan (2008-2018), the kingdom established 1,100 hectares of intensive, irrigated monocultures, to the detriment of food crops for local consumption. Tomatoes have become the flagship product: exported almost entirely to the European Union, they now account for around 90% of agricultural production in Western Sahara, covering more than 1,000 hectares and producing 64,000 tons for export in 2022.
With the implementation of the Generation Green 2020-2030 strategy, Morocco plans to further intensify this agro-export model. A vast development programme plans to add an additional 5,200 hectares, accompanied by a desalination plant and a massive irrigation network. Here again, tomatoes will be the dominant crop, with the first harvests expected at the end of 2025.
The terrible ecological and social consequences of the tomato agribusiness
The serious social, environmental and health consequences of Morocco’s intensive tomato production system are well known. They were recently analyzed by the Food Sovereignty Observatory of CCFD-Terre Solidaire (report entitled ‘La France à table, le sud paie l’addition’ [France eats, the South pays the bill], published in June 2025), which points out that this agro-export model is the ‘fruit of Morocco’s colonial history’.
EU-Morocco trade agreements promote the development of an export-oriented agribusiness model, to the detriment of local subsistence farming. Price increases on local markets make products such as tomatoes unaffordable for part of the Moroccan population. The rise of industrial agriculture also leads to land and water grabbing and intensive exploitation, exacerbating the precarious situation of small local producers and reducing their food autonomy. Veritable ‘tomato factories’ are proliferating, to the detriment of the environment and the needs of the inhabitants. Finally, this model reinforces Morocco’s dependence on and domination by Europe.
On a social level, female agricultural workers, who are poorly paid (around 80 dirhams per day for more than 10 hours of work), denounce harsh working conditions, with no trade union rights or compensation for overtime, in a context of inflation and growing precariousness. From an environmental perspective, tomato cultivation, which is water-intensive (30,000 tons of water per hectare per year), exacerbates water stress in the Agadir region, which is already affected by drought and the collapse of groundwater tables. To compensate, massive use of seawater desalination is necessary, but this process is costly, energy-intensive and polluting, due to Morocco’s predominantly carbon-based electricity mix. This agricultural model, which is now unprofitable for small producers, mainly benefits large Moroccan companies (Azura, Idyl, etc.) that are entirely export-oriented, while threatening the sustainability of local resources and exacerbating social inequalities.
In Western Sahara, the intensive export-oriented model of agriculture, modelled on that of Morocco, is having the same harmful effects on society and the environment. There is also a neo-colonial logic at play: the profits generated by this industry largely benefit large Moroccan agro-industrial groups, while the Sahrawi people remain excluded, deprived of both control over local resources and the income they generate.
Tomatoes at the heart of a legal and political controversy between the EU and Morocco
Initially, Western Sahara was included in the scope of trade agreements between Europe and Morocco. This was challenged in 2012 by the independence movement Polisario Front, which took the matter to the European courts. The EU General Court and then the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in its favour, stating that Western Sahara is not part of Moroccan territory. In 2024, the CJEU again called into question the tariff preferences enjoyed by agricultural products from Western Sahara, prompting the EU and Morocco to redefine their partnership.
In January 2025, the French Council of State upheld the CJEU’s decision, reiterating the need to clearly distinguish the origin of agricultural products imported from Western Sahara. Products originating in the territory must be labelled as such, and not as originating in Morocco. This measure aims to ensure transparency for consumers and combat labelling fraud.
However, the CJEU clarified that only the European Union, and not the Member States, can ban the import of these products. This is an absurd situation that benefits Morocco, as exports continue, fueled by a well-established Moroccan strategy: tomatoes grown in Western Sahara are shipped to the Agadir region, where they are packaged and then exported to the European Union under the label ‘Morocco’. This commercial arrangement has been widely criticized, both from a legal standpoint and in terms of the economic rights of the Sahrawi people.
Above all, Moroccan tomatoes, such as those grown in Western Sahara, fill the shelves of large French retailers (Carrefour and Coopérative U, among others), without consumers being aware of the social, political and environmental issues involved. Faced with this lack of transparency, could an informed boycott become an act of activism? Stop buying, question retailers, demand answers. After all, aren’t CSR practices and French/EU Duty of Vigilance Directive supposed to guarantee transparency in supply chains?