Brussels, 08/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - Several members of the European Parliament criticised the European Commission, during a debate at the European Parliament on Thursday 7 April, of standing by and doing nothing about potential illegal imports into Europe of tomatoes from Morocco. Some MEPs state that they would not approve the EU-Morocco bilateral agreement until the Commission has revised the entry price system and stopped frauds and illegal behaviour, which undermine the interests of European producers.
Erminia Mazzoni (EPP, Italy), the author of the oral question to the Commission, pointed out that the petitions committee of the European Parliament has received complaints from the Spanish Federation of Producers and Exporters of Fruit, Vegetables and Flowers (FEPEX) concerning alleged irregular imports of tomatoes from Morocco. In 2007, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) noted possible irregularities in imports of tomatoes to France from Morocco. The origin of these irregularities is the abusive application of the method for the deduction provided for by Regulation 3223/94, which established three different methods for the calculation of the entry price into the EU. The use of the said method has afforded operators the possibility of evading payment of additional duties provided for by the legislation when prices and import values are below the entry price set by the EU. This results in a loss of customs revenue for the EU. In addition, European tomato producers have been harmed by the impact these imports have on the level of tomato prices in the EU market, Mazzoni explained. She called on the Commission to explain why it has not taken any measure to modify the entry price regime for tomatoes in order to put a stop to these abusive practices. “The Commission seems to want to continue to ignore these findings”, said Mazzoni. The new agricultural plank of the association agreement with Morocco provides for an increase in tomato imports to the EU, which concerns the MEPs even more.
Maroš Šefèoviè, the European commissioner responsible for relations with the EP, tried to mollify the institution's concerns. “The Commission monitors the quantity of tomatoes imported from Morocco closely, attentively, using a cross-checking system based on designation of quantities, imported by Moroccan operators and daily import records kept by national customs authorities. The Commission until today does not have any proof of systemic fraud or systemic failure of the system that was put in place”, said the commissioner. He did acknowledge, however, that he had information regarding a case from 2007, in which OLAF revealed that the system could engender certain behaviour.
According to the commissioner, the new bilateral EU-Morocco trade agreement “preserves the interests of the European producers by maintaining the system of monthly tariff quotas of tomatoes and strict control of the quantities imported”. The quantitative increase of the tomato quota has been limited to 52,000 tonnes, “which is very much below traditional levels” and this will continue over the next four trading years, the commissioner said. “I think that we have very good and precise information and, if there were some systemic fraud and systemic irregularities, we would definitely spot it and take action”, Šefèoviè concluded.
Esther Herranz García (EPP, Spain) said that the Commission had not intervened to remedy a number of irregularities. It negotiated a new agreement with Morocco “without having corrected the problems with the regulation in force”, she stated. The Commission needs to start investigating the fraud and recovering the unpaid customs duties, said Herranz García. She spoke in favour of a reform of the entry price regime. “Until we have a new entry price system, we will not be able to sign the new agreement with Morocco”, Herranz García warned. She called for a new system on the border (customs duties), as the US has, in order to guarantee effective controls.
Statistics show that the Moroccans export to Europe more than twice the earmarked quota (more than 70,000 tonnes), said Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D, Poland). This has led to “considerable losses” for European producers and customs duty losses for the EU. In fact, imports are coming in at prices well below the entry prices laid down in the regulation, Geringer de Oedenberg explained.
Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (ALDE, Spain) said that we must find a means of “checking what we import from third countries”. “Without effective border controls, European agriculture will have a difficult future”, he said. “I am in favour of free trade, but under symmetric conditions of production and information”. The EP should not ratify the EU-Morocco agreement unless clauses on the employment market, the social and environmental dimension in Morocco are added, Tremosa i Balcells concluded. In Portugal, producers are finding it increasingly difficult to find outlets for their fruit and vegetables, because the major supermarkets are turning to other suppliers, said João Ferreira (GUE/NGL, Portugal). “The European Commission is hiding its head in the sand, it is refusing to defend the justified interests of the European farmers”, he said. What is more, the Commission ignored the OLAF report which spoke out against irregularities in imports of Moroccan tomatoes and stated that this has led to a drop in tomato prices in Europe and customs losses, the MEP continued. Ferreira called on the Commission to cease this “liberal forwards retreat” as manifested by the signature of new trade agreements, and which “sacrifices the interests of small European producers”. (L.C./transl.fl)