MAR/56
WTO/SPS
MA Morocco
  • 65 - Agriculture
  • 67 - Food technology
2019-05-11
2018-10-23

Primary vegetable products, plants and plant products, and food products other than ones submitted under veterinary certification

Projet de deux documents sanitaires pour les produits végétaux primaires et pour les produits végétaux et d'origine végétale et produits alimentaires non-soumis à la certification vétérinaire obligatoire (Two draft sanitary documents for primary vegetable products and for plants and plant products and food products other than ones submitted under veterinary certification)

Food safety is a primary concern of the ONSSA, which is responsible for the requirements for marketing food products. According to Article 4 of Law No. 28-07 on food safety, no primary product or food product may be marketed, imported or exported if it constitutes a danger to human life or health.

With respect to importation, Article 48 of Decree No. 2-10-473, which implements Law No. 28-07, provides that an importer must ensure that food products, including plants and plant products:

1.    are from a country, zone or region not subject to any sanitary or phytosanitary restrictions;

2.    meet the hygiene and health requirements laid down in the regulations in effect;

3.    come from a facility or company that has an HACCP self-control or other equivalent system in place;

4.    are accompanied by documents or other certificates required by special regulations for the products being imported, issued by the authorities in the country of export and certifying in particular that the products comply with existing laws and entail no risk for human life or health. According to Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Fisheries, Rural Development, Water Resources and Forestry Order No. 141-18 of 10 January 2018 on conformity control methods and techniques for imported primary products, food products and animal feed, in particular its Article 7, the importer or the importer's representative must file, inter alia, the sanitary certificates or other equivalent documents issued by the competent authority in the country of export and certifying that the products or foods concerned comply with existing laws and entail no risk for human or animal life or health.

In light of the foregoing, the ONSSA has prepared a draft sanitary document to ensure the safety of imported products. It must:

-         satisfy the conditions indicated in points 1, 2 and 3;

-         contain elements allowing the identification of the exporter, the products imported (description, production date, sell-by date, batch number, transport and storage conditions, etc.) and the means of transport;

-         be genuine, bearing the clearly printed number, first and last name and position of the certifying official, an official stamp and the date; be signed by the competent sanitary authority of the country of provenance.