Morocco Trade Agreements with Eu

Moroccan authorities, meanwhile, denied encouraging people to enter Ceuta without permission. Describes the trade agreements in which this country is involved. Provides resources for U.S. companies to obtain information on the use of these agreements. Morocco has also begun negotiations on a free trade agreement with Canada and several West African countries. On 22 February 2019, the Moroccan Board of Governors adopted a bill ratifying the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The aim is to create a single market for goods and services in 54 countries, enable the free movement of business travellers and investment, and create a continental customs union to streamline trade and attract long-term investment. The agreement is seen as crucial for growth and job creation for Africa and its 1.27 billion people. The start of trade under the AfCFTA agreement began on 1 January 2021 and Morocco has not yet ratified the agreement.

Morocco also applied for membership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on 24 February 2017. In November 2017, Morocco began negotiations with the South American trade bloc Mercosur on the creation of a free trade area. Morocco has not yet obtained its membership in the two trading blocs. "EU states and the UK have participated in the inclusion of Western Sahara in trade agreements with Morocco by legitimizing and providing material support to the Moroccan occupation – which violates international law," War on Want, a non-profit organization focused on social justice, said in a statement following the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU. The overall objective of the negotiations is to create new trade and investment opportunities and ensure a better integration of the Moroccan economy into the EU`s single market. The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement also aims to support the ongoing economic reforms in Morocco and to bring Moroccan legislation in trade-related areas closer to that of the EU. The Court of Justice of the European Union said on Wednesday it had terminated two agricultural trade agreements with Morocco in relation to the disputed region of Western Sahara because the North African country did not have the consent of the affected local population. The EU and Morocco were quick to issue a joint statement saying they would act to ensure the continuity of bilateral trade, and a senior Moroccan diplomatic source told Reuters he expected an appeal against what he called an "inconsistent" verdict. The agreements between the EU and Morocco concern the waters and territory of the disputed region of Western Sahara.

In Wednesday`s decision, the court said the Council had erred and decided to revoke the agreements that stipulated that they imposed obligations on the people of Western Sahara without their consent. In 1991, after 16 years of war, the Polisario Front and the Moroccan government agreed on a ceasefire. United Nations observers continue to monitor the situation, as clashes between the two sides erupted again last year. Morocco is committed to making its business environment more transparent and open to international companies by providing companies with an effective legal framework and a safe working environment. The governments of the United States and Morocco have agreed to publish in advance their current trade and investment laws, as well as all legislative proposals. Corruption in any form is prohibited, whistleblowers enjoy protection, and U.S. companies enjoy the same rights as Moroccan companies when investing in the country. U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement website Website: www.trade.gov/us-morocco-free-trade-agreement Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: U.S. Morocco FTA (ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/morocco-fta) He then accepted the Polisario`s view that the consent of the people of Western Sahara was necessary to implement the agreements throughout the territory and that measures such as consultations conducted by the EU authorities could not be considered secure.

As part of their Association Agreement, which entered into force in March 2000, the EU and Morocco concluded a free trade area to liberalise mutual trade in goods. They then developed the free trade agreement through an agreement on trade in agricultural, agricultural, food and fisheries products and a protocol establishing a bilateral dispute settlement mechanism, both of which entered into force in 2012. ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/morocco-fta/final-text. Morocco has preferential trade agreements with 62 countries. The EU-Morocco Association Agreement, which covers industrial products, entered into force on 1 March 2000 and applies to EU companies based in Morocco. The agreement provided for the phasing out of tariffs on EU-Morocco trade in industrial products over a period of 12 years and provides for duty-free access for limited quantities of certain agricultural products, in particular seafood, fruit and vegetables. In October 2008, Morocco was given "advanced status" allowing both sides to consider a comprehensive free trade agreement. Negotiations on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) between the European Union and Morocco started on 1 March 2013 and are ongoing. The Polisario Front challenged two EU-Morocco agreements concluded in 2019, both of which were revised after an earlier ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU that they were not applicable to Western Sahara.

The revisions added the territory and its adjacent waters. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said in the statement that they would "take the necessary measures to ensure the legal framework that guarantees the continuation and stability of trade between the EU and Morocco." The European Union`s highest court on Wednesday overturned the 27-nation bloc`s approval of agricultural and fisheries agreements that allow Morocco to export goods from Western Sahara. Pro-Polisario activists have always tried to challenge the EU`s trade deals with Morocco in court because they include the desert region. "This verdict is not only a victory for the people of Western Sahara, but a victory for all those who want to maintain a rules-based international order. where military annexations of foreign territories are discouraged and not rewarded with trade deals," he added. The Court of Justice of the EU, the bloc`s second highest chamber, noted on Wednesday that the Polisario Front was "internationally recognized as a representative of the people of Western Sahara" and that the bloc had not accepted the Saharawi people before concluding the agreements with Morocco. The EU is the North African kingdom`s largest trading partner and the largest foreign investor, according to the 27-member bloc. The FTA Joint Committee held its third meeting in December 2012.

At the meeting, the United States and Morocco announced agreement on three new initiatives: an agreement on trade facilitation, common principles for international investment, and common principles for information and communication technology (ICT) services. U.S. and Moroccan experts discussed issues related to the implementation of the FTA, including technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, and technical assistance to support the implementation of the FTA`s labor and environmental provisions. The two sides also discussed the next steps in the implementation of the 2011 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Morocco joined the United States in signing ACTA, an agreement that will raise the standard for the enforcement of intellectual property rights internationally. In a joint statement, EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said they would take steps "to ensure the legal framework that guarantees the continuation and stability of trade relations." Since the FTA came into force, the U.S. surplus in trade in goods with Morocco has grown from $79 million in 2005 (the year before it entered into force) to $1.8 billion in 2011. U.S. goods exports totaled $2.8 billion in 2011, up 45 percent year-on-year. Corresponding U.S. imports from Morocco amounted to US$996 million, an increase of 45 percent.

Morocco is now the 55th largest export market for U.S. products. Morocco did not have the consent of the people of Western Sahara required for the trade agreements, a European Union court ruled. The decision could damage the EU`s relations with Morocco, although the court said the impact of the 2019 agreements would be maintained over a period of time "to preserve the European Union`s external action and legal certainty regarding its international obligations". Cumulation of origin means that a good originating in a partner country can be processed or added to a product in a second partner country and is nevertheless considered the "originating product" of that second partner country for the purposes of a particular trade agreement. However, the court said that the annulment of the agreements would not take effect immediately, but only after the expiry of the two-month period for filing an appeal or after a possible decision if an appeal was filed. "There will be an appeal against the court`s decision, which is incompatible with EU policy, ideologically motivated and detrimental to the strategic partnership," the senior diplomatic source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "The Court considers that the agreements at issue, in so far as they expressly apply to Western Sahara and, as regards the decision on the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement, to the waters adjacent to that area, concern the population of that area and require the consent of its population," he said. The EU is Morocco`s main trading partner and the largest foreign investor in Morocco. In 2004, Morocco signed the Agadir Agreement with Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia.

This required all parties to eliminate all tariffs on trade between themselves and to harmonize their legislation on customs standards and procedures. .