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Rabat – The Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX) has warned that France’s decision to cut by 50% the number of visas issued to Moroccans could significantly affect Morocco’s foreign exports.
In a press release it issued earlier today, ASMEX called for an urgent intervention of authorities to assess and adequately respond to the situation caused by France’s decision to halve the number of issued visas to Moroccans.
Pointing out that the French decision “toughens the procedures for obtaining visas for Moroccan drivers of TIR trucks who provide transport to Europe,” ASMEX warned about TIR exports and emphasized that the situation is worrying due to the “imminent start of the citrus and early fruit export season.”
TIR references the Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention).
The convention is a multilateral treaty adopted in 1975 in General to simplify and harmonize the administrative formalities of international road transport.
ASMEX emphasized that the tightening of procedures for obtaining visas for TIR trucks drivers will particularly hamper exports of “perishable foodstuffs.”
Abdelaziz Matrach, vice-president of ASMEX and president of the group’s Logistics Commission, emphasized that Morocco “must act quickly and effectively” to limit the potential damage of the French government’s visa move.
“All the authorities concerned must intervene urgently to unblock the situation. We are already suffering from the problem of the scarcity of boats and availability of containers,” he said.
The ASMEX leadership emphasized that if TIR drivers are deprived of visas necessary for the delivery of products to Europe, the situation will be devastating Morocco’s exports.
“It’s all Moroccan foreign trade which is threatened today!” he warned.
ASMEX emphasized that European truck drivers benefit from “great fluidity at Moroccan borders without visa requirements when Moroccan drivers are stranded, which results in heavy losses of immobilization of their trucks.”
Morocco responded to France’s decision to cut the number of visas issued to Moroccans by 50% by describing the move as “unjustified.”.
France had cited the alleged refusal of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia to repatriate a number of their citizens living in France without legal status to justify its decision to review its visa policy toward the three North African countries.
But the Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nasser Bourita, rejected France’s justification, suggesting it was a pretext. “Morocco is strict when it comes to irregular migration and migrants with no legal status,” Bourita said, noting that “Moroccan consular services in France have provided over 400 transit passes to [Moroccan] individuals with no legal status, to facilitate their return” to Morocco.
He added that Morocco remains adamant about the strict respect of repatriation regulations during the COVID crisis and that “the problem is very French.”
He explained: “There are clear conditions for entering Moroccan territory for this category of people, firstly, the availability of a valid transit pass, second is proof of Moroccan nationality, and finally a negative PCR test, which the individuals in questions refuse to take.”
