• France’s top consumer group claims Moroccan tomatoes contain higher pesticide residues than local produce.
• Morocco’s fruit and vegetable exporters reject the allegations as “unscientific,” citing EU data showing less than 1% of safety alerts concern its exports.
• The dispute adds pressure to Morocco’s record tomato exports to Europe, which reached 745,000 tonnes worth $1.2 billion in 2024/2025.

Morocco, one of the world’s leading tomato exporters, is again facing criticism over the safety of its produce in the European Union, its largest market. The Moroccan Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Exporters (APEFEL) dismissed recent French findings as “without scientific basis.”

The reaction followed a report by France’s leading consumer advocacy group, UFC-Que Choisir, published on October 27. The study claimed that more than half of Moroccan tomatoes contained pesticide residues, compared with 15% for French tomatoes.

The report added that nearly 40% of tomatoes imported from Spain or Morocco contained molecules officially classified as harmful by EU authorities, including carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, compared with 6% for French-grown tomatoes.

APEFEL said the report used “health concerns for economic ends.” The association emphasized that Morocco’s phytosanitary monitoring system has maintained high reliability over the past five years.

According to data cited by APEFEL, Morocco accounted for only 49 notifications out of 5,502 alerts registered by the EU on fruit and vegetable imports between 2020 and 2025 — less than 1% of the total.

The group added that the presence of “residues” in produce does not necessarily mean limits set by EU regulations were exceeded. APEFEL reiterated its “commitment to maintaining production standards aligned with European and international norms.”

The latest French complaints add to growing friction between Moroccan exporters and European producers. Morocco is the largest non-EU supplier of tomatoes to the bloc, but also one of the most frequently targeted by competitors’ grievances.

In France — which absorbed 50% of Morocco’s tomato exports in the 2024/2025 season, according to data from the Office des Changes — producers have long accused Moroccan suppliers of unfair competition and opaque labeling practices.

In Spain, the farmers’ organization COAG has repeatedly alleged that Moroccan tomato exports to the EU involved “tax fraud,” a claim the European Commission dismissed as unfounded.

Morocco exported 745,000 tonnes of tomatoes in 2024/2025, a record volume that generated $1.2 billion in revenue.

This article was initially published in French by Espoir Olodo

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum