Do agricultural product exports increase food prices in Morocco?

As soon as the Mauritanian authorities released their new decision to cancel customs duties that had been imposed on Moroccan exports of vegetables and fruits since the beginning of this year, fears emerged that the indicative figures for prices upon consumption would rise again.

Mauritania’s decision to impose customs duties on Moroccan exports starting last January had a positive impact on the prices of agricultural products at the national market level, to the point that these prices sometimes fell below five dirhams per kilogram after they had reached or exceeded ten dirhams.

The opinions of interveners who spoke to Hespress were identical about the negative impact of the new Mauritanian decision to cancel customs duties, and ranged between “30 percent impact on prices” and “relative impact,” while the focus was mainly on “the necessity of seriously reconsidering wholesale markets and marketing channels and implementing strictness.” In the face of the transgressions of some merchants.”

Reacting to the issue, Abdel Razzaq Chabbi, head of the Vegetables and Fruits Association at the Casablanca Wholesale Market, said, “The recent Mauritanian decision would raise consumption prices after the market stabilized during the last period and the prices of basic vegetables and fruits became accessible to the popular classes, as “It is possible, and perhaps very certain, that these prices will rise again by up to 30 percent.”

Al-Shabi added, in a statement to Hespress, that “the matter is mainly related to the fact that we do not have a regulated and rational export that is regulated to the needs of the international market, as producers and exporters usually prefer foreign markets in order to benefit from the high selling price there,” pointing out that “the effects of this decision The Mauritanian is expected to appear starting Saturday and the beginning of next week.”

According to the same spokesman, “The point is the balance of supply and demand. If the national market received a number of trucks during the last period, this number will actually decline in the coming days, given that there is interest from producers in the foreign market,” continuing: “We are with Legalization and rationalization of the process of exporting national agricultural products in line with the internal market situation and the level of purchasing power.”

On the other hand, Ahmed Bayoud, the founding president of the Association with Consumers, stated that “exports are not the main control in raising the prices of foodstuffs in the national market. Rather, the matter is mainly related to the structure of the market, which until now remains unregulated, given that agricultural products immediately after their exit from… The fields do not follow the correct and natural path that they should take in the first place, as they pass through a number of intermediaries before they reach the consumer.”

Bayoud explained, in a statement to Hespress, that “the Mauritanian decision would affect the national market, but not in the way that is being talked about, given that talk in this context is usually to prepare citizens for any expected shock in prices,” highlighting that “Morocco is currently witnessing… A peak in agricultural production coincided with the season of harvesting a number of agricultural products.

The spokesman stated, “In this regard, the consumer finds no one to protect him from the expected increases, at a time when restructuring the wholesale markets has become an urgent requirement, as they are among the points that stimulate raising prices, while reforming them will enable the product to reach the consumer at prices that suit his ability.” “Purchasing.”