Spainish farmers seek role in inspecting Moroccan imports

In Spain, tensions regarding Moroccan agricultural products have escalated. The agricultural union, Unión de Uniones, has demanded participation in control operations on products, primarily those coming from Morocco, according to Spanish media outlets like El País.

The union argues for stricter border controls «carried out responsibly to reassure consumers and producers». They justify their request by citing a «loss of confidence» in the Spanish government's actions to «protect» Spanish consumers from potentially harmful pesticides that these imported products could contain. They claim the products «do not comply with European Union phytosanitary standards».

This week, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita disputed these allegations, arguing against the portrayal of the «European Union as a sieve where everything enters without control». «We negotiated quotas and phytosanitary standards», Bourita said. «The European Union was, moreover, very strict about the conditions».