TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisian government spokesman Iyad Dahmani told the state-owned Tunis Afrique Presse Feb. 27 that Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed decided not to extend the agreement on sea salt exploitation with France’s Compagnie Generale des Salines de Tunisie (COTUSAL), which dates back to 1949.

The agreement has been subject to much controversy, as it is said to favor the French company that held a monopoly over Tunisia’s salt market and benefited from very low operating rates.

Dahmani said that COTUSAL’s legal representative was notified of the government decision to end the agreement, which was supposed to expire in 2029 as per the convention signed between Tunisia and the French company. The convention stipulated that France would exploit sea salt in Tunisia for 50 years. It was automatically renewed twice for a period of 15 years, in 1999 and 2014.

The termination of the agreement has long been a demand of several Tunisian parties and parliamentarians, most prominently Ameur Larayedh, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Industry, Energy, Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Environment.