Morocco's Consumer Rights Federation boycotts Tunisian products as diplomatic rift grows between Rabat and Tunis

Morocco's Consumer Rights Federation (FMDC) launched Monday a boycott campaign against Tunisian products following the diplomatic rift between Rabat and Tunis.

"[Morocco's Consumer Rights Federation] decided to freeze all ties with Tunisian consumer rights institutions and call for boycotting all Tunisian products," wrote FMDC on Monday.

Morocco is Tunisia's third economic partner at the Maghreb and Arab level, with a volume of trade which reached, in 2017, approximately 830 million Tunisian dinars ($US259 million).

In its press release, the Federation also denounced Kais Saied's hosting of "terrorist" and "separatist" Brahim Ghali, describing him as a "president of an imaginary state".

Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, an Algeria-backed separatist movement claiming sovereignty over the Rabat-controlled territory of Western Sahara.

As a president of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Ghali was invited to attend the TICAD conference for the Japanese-African partnership in Tunis.

SADR has been recognised by 84 out of a total of 193 UN members of states but during the last decade, 43 states have "frozen" or "withdrawn" recognition due to Rabat's diplomatic pressure. Tunisia does not recognise SADR.

UN recognises neither Rabat nor Polisario sovereignty over the territory.

Over the weekend, Saied and Ghali's warm greeting in Carthage Airport angered Morocco who reacted furiously to Tunis' "hostile" and "unnecessarily provocative act" by immediately withdrawing its Tunis ambassador for consultations.

In response, Tunisia also recalled its ambassador to Rabat for consultations.

Morocco has also boycotted the upcoming sports events held in Tunisia.

Moroccan political parties unanimously condemned Kais Saied's "stab in the back."

The Moroccan palace stressed that friendship with Rabat will be measured by a state's diplomatic stand on the Western Sahara dispute, leaving no room for neutrality regarding Morocco's main national cause.

Morocco fought a 15-year war with the Polisario Front separatist movement after Spain withdrew from its former colony in 1975. 

In 1991, the UN established a peacekeeping mission to monitor a ceasefire and organise a referendum on the territory's status. 

The vote was set for 1992 but was suspended after Morocco refused to accept any vote that allowed for the territory's independence, saying that only "autonomy" was on the table.

In 2006, Morocco presented its autonomy plan regarding the territory, which is supposed to allow Sahrawis to run their affairs "democratically" through legislative, executive, and judicial bodies, while Rabat retains control over the defence and foreign relations.

For its part, the UN has backed the plan, yet the Polisario Front rejected Rabat's proposal and continues to call for an independent state for Sahrawis.

Since then, numerous UN-sponsored talks have failed to make a breakthrough, each side further entrenched in their positions.