Western Sahara: EU and Morocco conclude negotiations on the trade agreement and provisionally maintain preferential market access for goods from Western Sahara

On Friday 3 October, the European Union and Morocco concluded the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part.

This agreement applied provisionally from 3 October, until such a point as the agreement is granted consent by the European Parliament.

Under this agreement, Morocco and the European Union have agreed to the following:

4. The European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to allow the products covered by paragraph 1 (Products originating in Western Sahara subject to controls by the customs authorities of the Kingdom of Morocco) to be identified by reference to the region of origin given on the proof of origin provided for in Protocol 4.

5. With respect to the products referred to in paragraph 1, the European Union may grant the competent Moroccan authorities the necessary authorisations to draw up certificates of conformity proving compliance with Union marketing standards, in accordance with Union legislation.

6. The European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco agree that products of the fruit and vegetables sector covered by this Agreement shall feature a label indicating their place of origin as given on the certificates of origin pursuant to paragraph 4 above.

FRUCOM spoke with the European Commission on Friday, and it was explained that the import procedure for products originating in Western Sahara subject to controls by the customs authorities of the Kingdom of Morocco to the EU would be as follows:

- For goods originating in Western Sahara, it is the responsibility of Morocco, in the certificate of origin that it issues, to indicate in the certificate the region in Western Sahara where the goods are from

- The import declaration EUR1 will be modified to include a space for two new codes: one code from the certificate of origin issued by Morocco (above), and another concerning the invoice declaration. This is all that that will change for EU importers bringing in goods from Western Sahara, to ensure they provide these codes in their EUR1 declaration.

- The European Commission has already informed Member States of the changes foreseen.

- DG TAXUD will provide some information on their website for the trade, either in form of a Q&A or something similar, which I will share with you as soon as it is published.

More information:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/notice/2025/2042/oj

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/agree/2025/2025/oj

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/2022/oj

For the EUR.1 changes, see https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/2023/oj

Contact: Lebo Mofolo lmofolo@frucom.eu