The European Union (EU) and the Moroccan medicine manufacturing sector could prosper through a new trade agreement currently being negotiated between the two regions.
The EU imported €17m of pharmaceuticals from Morocco in 2012, while Morocco imported €330m of EU-made medicines last year.
The new planned EU-Morocco Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) would, according to the European Commission (EC), ease trade by ‘bringing Moroccan trade-related requirements, industrial standards, technical regulations and animal and plant health measures closer to EU legislation’.
Negotiators will also try to simplify customs procedures and reduce trade barriers ‘caused by incompatible or unnecessarily burdensome industrial standards’, the EC said.
Abdelghani El Guermail, President of the Moroccan Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (AMIP), said: ‘Such a trade deal will help us reach new markets, develop our sales and create further cooperation.’
He added that a deal might reduce medicine prices on Morocco’s retail market.
EU signs trade deal with Morocco
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