In Tunisia, imports of Egyptian tomatoes questioned over quality

Tunisia has begun importing Egyptian tomatoes after several weeks of tension on the local market, according to Maghreb Emergent. The Ministry of Commerce has set price caps of 2.8 dinars per kilogram wholesale and 3.48 dinars retail for these consignments, which have arrived in recent days.

The use of imports is not unanimously supported. Even before the first batches arrived, the quality of Egyptian tomatoes, agricultural production conditions in Egypt and, above all, irrigation sparked controversy in Tunisian media and on social networks. However, these criticisms are not based on analyses showing a health non-compliance, and no public data consulted shows pesticide residues above regulatory thresholds. On 9 November, Anis Kharbeche, vice-president of the Interprofessional Vegetable Group, told Mosaïque FM that imported tomatoes were subject to regulatory checks.

Professionals attribute the fall in local supply to the intense summer heat, which affected flowering, and to hailstorms in Sbiba and Foussana, in the governorate of Kasserine. According to the Tunisian press, prices reached up to 6 dinars per kilogram in some markets in early November. Meanwhile, the industrial sector is facing large stocks of tomato concentrate and difficulties in selling them.