Abdul Qadir Katara
On Monday, March 13, about 500 kilograms of imported Algerian dates were destroyed, after they were seized in a warehouse in the Derb Al-Sultan area, in the city of Casablanca.
These destroyed dates entered Morocco illegally, and were not subject to the control of the concerned authorities. The authorities asked the owner of the dates to present papers and licenses proving the legality of importing these dates, but he did not do so.
Sector professionals complained about the danger of flooding the Moroccan market with imported Algerian and Tunisian dates, calling for the protection of the national product of all kinds and categories of dates from unfair foreign competition.
On the other hand, parliamentary groups recently called on the Minister of Industry and Trade, Riad Mazour, to disclose the procedures and measures that his ministry will take to value the national product of dates and protect it from unfair competition, as well as the procedures and measures taken to ensure the safety and health of the consumer.
On the other hand, a campaign was launched on social networks and instant communication calling on Moroccan citizens to boycott Algerian dates saturated with banned pesticides and nuclear radiation banned in various countries of the world, which invaded Moroccan markets days before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, despite the abundance, diversity, quality and safety of Moroccan dates, as I asked. The Facebook campaign about the presence of these Algerian dates, whose military regime severed its relations with Morocco, closed the airspace to Moroccan planes and land borders, cut off gas from a brotherly Arab Muslim country, closed the Maghreb pipeline, and threatened Spain, the infidel country, if it sold gas to the Moroccan people…
One of the Algerian oddities and wonders is that this campaign arouses the ire of the Algerian military regime and its popular herd and its official media dumps and sewage channels, and expresses unjustified, incomprehensible and unacceptable anger towards this Moroccan Facebook campaign against the consumption of Algerian dates because they contain carcinogens and pesticides, according to the testimony of officials. Algerians and the «National Association of Algerian Exporters».
The campaign advised the Moroccan consumer to avoid acquiring Algerian dates with the approaching month of Ramadan, in which Moroccans consume a lot of this product, and to replace them with local dates or those offered to other countries.
The media of the Algerian military regime did not find any justification for its anger except by promoting nonsense and lies targeting the Moroccan state and what it likes to call it the “Moroccan Storehouse”, accusing it of leading a “campaign to boycott Algerian dates”, knowing that the matter is related to a Moroccan Facebook campaign to boycott Algerian dates, even if it wanted The “Moroccan warehouse” would have been prevented from importing it simply, transparently, clearly and courageously from the global markets and preventing companies from importing it, and it has nothing to do with the boycott.
Al-Shorouk military newspaper headlined an article with “The hashtag of Moroccans defame Algerian dates invades Twitter.” It was published on Tuesday, March 14th, in which it stated: “The hashtag of Moroccans defame Algerian dates invaded Twitter, following media campaigns warning against their acquisition, claiming that they contain carcinogenic substances.” .
She added, “Algerian dates are very popular in Morocco, especially in the period preceding the advent of the month of Ramadan, despite the media campaigns that warn against their acquisition, all of which have fallen in the face of their quality.”
And she added: “Despite the failure of the boycott campaigns that were launched last year, voices have reappeared in Morocco claiming that they are dangerous to the health of consumers without providing clear evidence. To monitoring and analysis in accordance with international standards. »
On March 22, 2022, the same newspaper, the official spokesman for the Algerian military, previously published an article entitled “The Moroccan Regime’s Media Leads a Campaign to Boycott Algerian Dates!” In it, it was stated, “Media affiliated with the Moroccan regime launched what it called a campaign to boycott Algerian dates, claiming that they “carry toxic substances,” days before the holy month of Ramadan. »
And the Algerian media dump went on, “Sites and pages circulated through social networks, known for promoting rumors and information prepared by the “makhzen laboratories” and its flies, publications and articles warning Moroccans against the acquisition of Algerian dates, claiming that they are “treated with carcinogenic substances.”
In relation to the subject, one must strangely wonder, “How can this stupid and stupid Algerian military regime get angry just because of a Facebook campaign to boycott an Algerian product because it is of questionable quality and authenticity, just as Moroccans used to interact even with Moroccan products and demand a boycott of them, because it is civilized and democratic behavior and freedom of expression.” , unlike what is the reality in Algeria, where the defeated Algerian citizen is prohibited from demonstrating, expressing and protesting, at a time when the Moroccans were not angry when the malicious, spiteful and envious Algerian military regime decided to stop pumping Algerian gas to Spain through the pipeline through Moroccan territory to deprive Morocco of its share in Gas, even Spain threatened to cut off gas from it if it dared to supply Morocco with gas. The appointed Algerian president also ordered Algerian economic companies to end contractual relations with Moroccan companies, describing them as “hostile entities.”
And to remind the stupid Algerian herd that his media dumps are marketing, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the warden of the military regime, during October 2021, to stop pumping gas towards Spain through Moroccan soil, and Tebboune also ordered Sonatrach to stop the relationship with the Moroccan Office of Electricity and Water, and not to renew the contract concluded. with the Moroccan company.
This decision came after President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received a report on the contract, which provides for the granting of material consideration to Morocco in exchange for the passage of the gas pipeline to Spain through Moroccan territory.
The deals of the Algerian Insurance Company “SAA” and the Algerian Insurance and Reinsurance Company “KAR” with the Moroccan dealer “Auras” in the field of software also angered President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, due to the acquisition of software worth 50 billion centimes, and the payment of maintenance and upgrade rights equivalent to 5 billion centimes annually, as he ordered the termination of all “unjustified” contracts of national companies with foreign dealers, within 10 days.
The Algerian economist, Abdel-Rahman Aya, justified this Algerian position by saying in a statement to the Algerian media: “The termination of deals with some “hostile” parties to Algeria, according to the instructions of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is not linked to the economic aspect only, and cannot be isolated from political relations. , which plays an important role in strengthening or suppressing commercial relations, and “Aya” confirms that the Algerian-Moroccan economic transactions remain low due to political differences, and also the fact that Morocco is a country that cares about financial profits and material interests more than the national dimension and the geopolitical aspect, “which we see plays a role Important in the decisions of Algerian officials before concluding any deal ».
The European Union has previously dealt a harsh and painful blow to the economy of the Algerian military regime after it rejected tons of “Deglet Nour” dates destined for the markets of European countries under the Ministry of Agriculture’s protocol.
Several quantities of Algerian dates exported to Europe were returned by the authorities of these countries. In France, the exported goods were withdrawn this summer due to the presence of a pesticide banned by the World Health Organization and discovered by foreign laboratories.
Algerian date exporters sounded the alarm due to the refusal to enter the European markets several quantities of “Deglet Nour”, after positive laboratory analyzes confirmed its results for Diflubenzuron, an insecticide banned by the European Union, while it is still applied in the protocol of the Ministry of Agriculture.
This situation therefore threatens the excellent quality of Algerian dates and their export, due to the Algerian authorities not complying with the standards updated by the World Health Organization, as the use of pesticides on agricultural products is closely monitored and is based on standards that protect consumers in Europe, a process that is not widely followed. in Algeria.
And the chain of “Sainsbury’s” commercial stores in Britain had previously warned against eating the Algerian “Deglet Nour” dates, after it was suspected of causing hepatitis A, which rarely threatens the lives of those infected with it, but it may be fatal if it causes liver failure.
The commercial chain asked those who bought the dates “not to consume them and return them to the nearest store,” pointing out that these dates are being marketed through another brand, that it investigated the matter urgently with the exporter of these dates in Algeria, and that it was communicating “closely” with the Safety Standards Agency. nutritional.
Many countries had refused to import Algerian dates, while others, as is the case with Canada, France, Canada, Russia and Qatar, destroyed and burned thousands of tons of this product because it contained chemicals, worms and insects. In 2018, Canada preferred to return Algerian dates of the “Deglat Nour” family, large quantities of which contained worms, by destroying the quantities it had previously imported from Algeria.
A number of Algerian exporters of Deglet Nour sounded the alarm, after refusing to enter a number of containers of dates exported to European countries, against the backdrop of the presence of chemical residues of the “alpha-zeron” substance that is used to combat the date worm, which was detected by private laboratories for the analysis. Quality and conformity in Europe.
According to farmers, Algeria continues to use these pesticides in many agricultural products, including citrus and other fruits, but their use in dates endangers the export of this product, which is seriously and carefully monitored by European markets.
And the “Date Exporters Association” called for an immediate cessation of the treatment of this substance with chemicals, which according to it caused an international blockade on the Algerian “Deglet Nour”, which was recently banned in many European and American countries, because it contained the remains of “poisonous materials.” The exporters demanded from the agricultural interests the necessity Reviewing the chemicals used in the treatment of dates, which according to them are suitable for citrus fruits, but are harmful and poisonous to dates, as the latter require biological organic materials used in neighboring countries and have proven effective in the natural treatment of dates.
Algerian farmers also called on the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture to update the protocol for chemicals used against animal and plant pests of crops.
Previously, the head of the National Association of Algerian Exporters, Ali Bey Nasseri, said, “The main problem for Algeria in exporting agricultural materials is poor chemical treatment, as the use of 5 types of fertilizers and pesticides banned abroad is exaggerated, which makes these materials unavailable to enter the market.” European, American, and even the markets of Arab countries adopt high standards in importing vegetables and fruits… »
In this context, he gave an example of the Algerian dates, in which worms spread through 20 percent of their crop, which makes their export difficult, and even if they leave the Algerian market, they may be returned at any moment due to their lack of conformity with the required standards, noting, on the other hand, that the percentage of worms in Tunisian dates is prevalent. not exceed 5 percent.
Djamel Akshab, head of the Friends of the Environment Association in the Zagora region of Morocco, had previously stated, in a previous interview with the “Al-Watan Al-Aan” weekly, that it was time for Morocco to raise customs duties on the sale of Algerian dates or to stop importing them, given that they contain dangerous preservatives, in addition to The oases in Algeria were damaged by the French nuclear tests in the late fifties and early sixties.
Akshab called for the consumption of Moroccan dates, especially since the volume of date production in Morocco is very important, and is characterized by its quality and 100 percent biological, by creating private companies to value dates and develop a strategy for internal and external marketing and limit the import of foreign dates that compete with the local product.
On the other hand, it must be noted that Algeria is still among the top five producers of dates worldwide. According to the latest statements, exports of this product in the first eleven months of 2021 amounted to more than $70 million.