Morocco - Country Commercial Guide
Trade Standards
Last published date:

Overview

EU standards for products are favored, and excessively formal protocols and bureaucracy can lead to long wait times for product launches and openings.  The lack of efficient and transparent processes for government permits, land approvals, and procurements create further barriers when dealing with the public sector.

IMANOR (Institut Marocain de Normalisation) is the national standards body of Morocco and is responsible for standardization in Morocco.  IMANOR was created in 2010, replacing SNIMA, a part of the Ministry of Industry. Its mission is to:

  • Produce Moroccan standards.
  • Certify compliance with standards and normative references.
  • Publish and disseminate standards and related products and information.
  • Train on standards and implementation techniques, and
  • Represent Morocco in international and regional standardization organizations.

Standards

IMANOR standard and the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade, Green and Digital Economy will grant a product the right to use the NM (Normes Marocaine, Moroccan Norms) label as proof of its quality.  All products must also conform to the specifications of the USMFTA.

The National Office for Food Safety (Office National de Securité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires, ONSSA) is the Ministry of Agriculture’s inquiry point on standards:

  • Main Website: http://www.onssa.gov.ma/
  • www.onssa.gov.maDirection for the Control and Protection of Vegetables (Direction des Contrôles et de la Protection des Végétaux)
  • Division of Regulation and Normalization (Division de la Réglementation et de la Normalisation).

Testing, Inspection and Certification

The main national testing organization is the Laboratory for Public Tests and Studies (Laboratoire Public d’Essais et d’Etudes, LPEE).  LPEE currently has laboratories in all of Morocco’s major cities.  Although most of its work is dedicated to building and construction testing, it also deals with electrical and calibration testing. 

The following five government commissions have the mandate to certify standards conformity:

  1. Multi-sector Commission (Commission Pluri-sectorielle), which includes services,
  2. Food and Agricultural Industry Certification Commission (Commission de Certification des Industries Agro-Alimentaires),
  3. Chemical and Para-Chemical Industry Certification Commission (Commission de Certificat des Industries de la Chimie et de la Parachimie),
  4. Mechanical, Metallurgic, Electric and Electronic Certification Commission (Commission de Certification des Industries Mécaniques, Métallurgiques, Electriques et Electroniques),
  5. Textile and Leather Industry Certification Commission (Commission de Certification des Industries du Textile et du Cuir).

The only Moroccan accreditation body is the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade, Green and Digital Economy.  Although accreditation is still voluntary, with no accreditation requirements mandatory by technical regulations, there are almost 30 certified labs nationwide.  A complete list of these labs can be found at Accueil | Ministère de l’Industrie et du Commerce (mcinet.gov.ma)

Publication of Technical Regulations

IMANOR is responsible for the production of Moroccan standards, the certification of compliance with standards and normative references, the publication and dissemination of standards and related products and information, and training on standards and implementation techniques. IMANOR represents Morocco in international and regional standardization organizations.

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have committed, under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), to notify the WTO of proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that could affect trade. 

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by WTO Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and does not require registration unless the user wishes to receive customized e-mail alerts.  Use it to browse notifications on past as well as new draft and updated product regulations, food safety and animal and plant health standards and regulations, find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees, locate information on SPS/TBT Enquiry Points and notification authorities, and to follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest. 

Notify U.S., operated and maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since 2003 to distribute and provide access to notifications (and associated draft texts) made under the WTO TBT Agreement for US stakeholders, has reached its end of life.  Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates a national TBT (and an SPS) Enquiry Point.   National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Inquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://tsapps.nist.gov/notifyus/data/guidance/guidance.cfm for further information.

Contact Information

IMANOR standard and the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade, Green and Digital Economy will grant a product the right to use the NM (Normes Marocaine, Moroccan Norms) label as proof of its quality.  All products must also conform to the specifications of the USMFTA.

The National Office for Food Safety (Office National de Securité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires, ONSSA) is the Ministry of Agriculture’s inquiry point on standards: Main Website: https://www.onssa.gov.ma/.