Moroccan Secretary of State to the Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy in charge of Foreign Trade Rkia Derham revealed that in 2017, 2,429 consumer protection violations were recorded, and that the authorities had carried out 11,636 inspections.
At the opening of the eighth session of the National Consumer Days, which is organized under the slogan "what type of national strategy for consumer protection,” Derham said that government checks on consumption in 2017 resulted in "105 warnings (for violators) to comply with the laws, and 10 violation tickets.”
The ministry implemented two inspection programs, mainly on textile and electric home appliances, under which 836 institutions - notably major markets, retail stores and specialized shops - were monitored.
The ministry also noted that the concerned departments received 971 complaints that were accepted in 2017, an increase of 64.4 percent compared to 2016.
"More than 50 percent of the complaints registered in 2017 were on the telecommunications and trade sectors as the percentage of complaints on telecom violations mounted to 29.1 percent while trade complaints reached 22.12 percent,” Derham added.
She said that the government is exerting "great efforts to protect the consumer.”
In reference to the popular demand for cheap commodities, she considered that “we should draw lessons from the death of a citizen from a mobile phone charger in order to understand that protecting our lives is more important than saving money.”
For his part, head of the Moroccan Federation of Consumer Rights Bouazza al-Kharati called for a political will to implement the royal speech of 2008 on the creation of the consumer code, and for allowing consumer protection associations access to the judiciary.
Preventing such associations from representing citizens before the judiciary limits the effectiveness of their work, he warned.
On the sidelines of launching the National Consumer Days, Kharati told Asharq Al-Awsat that the level of consumer protection in Morocco has dropped despite existing laws.
The laws are “not being activated, and there is no room for enforcing them.”
He added that the administration in charge of inspection does not have the necessary resources to carry out its assigned roles, pointing out that Morocco will pay a heavy price if it puts social needs ahead of the people’s welfare and health.
