Rabat – Morocco and Chile have taken a new step toward expanding agricultural and food trade with the signing of a cooperation protocol on quarantine, plant protection, and animal health.
Morocco’s National Office for Food Safety (ONSSA) and Chile’s Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) signed the agreement on Friday.
The protocol aims to align sanitary and phytosanitary procedures governing agricultural and food products traded between the two countries. It is also expected to simplify administrative requirements and reduce processing times at borders.
Officials said the agreement should help make trade flows smoother while strengthening protection for agricultural production in both countries, in line with international standards.
Morocco’s ambassador to Chile, Kenza El Ghali, described the agreement as a “decisive step” toward building greater sanitary confidence between the two countries and creating new opportunities for agricultural and food trade.
She also highlighted the potential of two major infrastructure projects: South America’s Bioceanic Corridor and the future Atlantic port of Dakhla. According to El Ghali, the projects could develop into complementary logistics platforms linking South America, Africa and the Atlantic.
She said this could eventually support the creation of a maritime trade corridor between Morocco and Chile, helping diversify trade routes and strengthen logistics links in both directions.
Trade Has Grown Eightfold in Five Years
Chile’s Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, Paula Estévez, said the protocol could further expand bilateral trade.
Trade between the two countries has increased from around $10 million (about MAD 100 million) to more than $80 million (around MAD 800 million) over the past five years, she said.
Estévez also pointed to significant room for further growth. She described Morocco as a strategic partner in Chile’s efforts to diversify its international economic relations and as a potential gateway to the African market.
Chile’s Undersecretary for Agriculture, Francesco Venezian Urzúa, said the government is seeking to strengthen the international competitiveness of Chile’s agricultural sector through partnerships with countries that share similar sanitary standards and a commitment to economic openness.
SAG Director-General Domingo Rojas said the agreement was the result of several years of cooperation with ONSSA.
He said it provides a foundation for deeper technical collaboration, stronger mutual confidence in sanitary standards and more dynamic agricultural trade between Morocco and Chile.
