France Asks the European Commission to Review Algeria Trade Issues as Algerian Urea Accounts for About 30 Percent of French Urea Imports and French Wheat Has Not Entered Algeria Since July 2024
France will ask the European Commission to assess what it says is Algeria non-compliance with its association agreement with the European Union, following assertions that its former colony is pursuing an unofficial boycott of French companies.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux told a news conference that the association agreement stipulates the possibility to take appropriate measures for the non-respect of commitments, and that France asks the Commission to examine immediately the conditions for their activation, without detailing what commitments Algeria was said to have failed to uphold.
A French diplomatic source said Paris had decided to make a formal request to the Commission because the situation for its firms was worsening, and two people aware of the matter said the Treasury Department held a meeting on November 6 with different French industries to discuss the Algerian restrictions, which have not been announced by the country.
Diplomats told Reuters in October that Algiers had in late July imposed a near-blanket ban on French imports and had issued an instruction to officials to suspend urea shipments to France, putting at risk Algerian supplies that account for around 30 percent of French urea imports.
In grains, Algeria, once the biggest overseas buyer of French wheat, has not imported any wheat from France since July 2024, with traders saying French supplies have repeatedly been excluded from Algerian state tenders without a formal ban being announced.
The European Commission already registered a trade barrier in June 2025 alleging that Algeria has been blocking imports of French agricultural and food products since August 2024 by delaying or failing to issue required import authorisations, and that complaint, on the Commission website updated in March 2026, focuses in particular on dairy products, while Algeria embassy in Paris was not immediately available for comment.
Source: French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：阿尔及利亚首都阿尔及尔夜景（资料图）。Muhammed amine benloulou，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Algiers, capital of Algeria, at night (file photo). By Muhammed amine benloulou, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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