Reuters
www.zawya.com
Morocco will raise the custom duty on soft wheat imports to 75 percent from 17.5 percent from May 1 to protect the local harvest, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The country is on course to harvest a record cereal crop of more than 10 million tonnes this year after favourable rainfall during the growing season.
Last year the government said the local harvest reached 6.7 million tonnes, including 3.7 million tonnes of soft wheat.
“According to the simulations of the agriculture ministry, 75 percent is the custom duty that could protect the national production”, the government statement said.
The new duty will run until Oct. 31, it added.
(Reporting by Aziz ElYaakoubi; Editing by Mark Potter and David Holmes)
