Rabat – The European Trade Commission issued an amendment legislation on June 29 that places Morocco on the list of countries authorized to export poultry products to EU member countries.
Announced in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 30, 2022, the legislation specifies that the measure is effective starting at the date of the legislation’s publication.
Morocco had previously submitted an application to the commission requesting access to the EU single market. After ensuring that Morocco’s poultry products conformed to the EU health regulation, the commission approved the application.
In a statement, the EU’s delegation to Morocco noted that, “Given the large economic size of the European market and its proximity to Morocco, this decision could have a positive impact on the Moroccan poultry production sector.”
Commenting on the decision, Ambassador of the European Union to Morocco, Patricia Llombart Cussac, said: “I am delighted with this favorable decision which is part of the common ambitions and mutual commitments of the EU-Morocco partnership for shared prosperity.”
Cussac further added that “Morocco can now export poultry meat products to the 27 EU Member States, and thus access a market of nearly 450 million consumers.”
The decision consolidates the EU’s position as Morocco’s largest trading partner. Almost 56% of Morocco’s exports went to the EU in 2019, while almost half of Morocco’s imports came from the EU in the same year.
EU-Morocco trade stood at €35.3 billion in 2019.
Morocco’s exports to the EU reached €15.2 billion in the same year, consisting mainly of electrical machinery and transport equipment (40.8%), agri-food (16.2% ), and textile and clothing (15.1%).
The two entities ratified a mutual Free Trade Area agreement in 1996.
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