The decision to reduce honey import duties, from 40% to only 2.5%, is causing great concern within the Union of Professional Beekeepers of Morocco. She believes that this quasi-exemption could plunge the sector into an unprecedented crisis and endanger national production.
Beekeepers, already affected by the collapse of hives having caused the destruction of more than 70% of production during the years 2021 and 2022, face unfair competition which threatens the survival of hundreds of companies, reports the Union in its latest press release.
He emphasizes that at a time when the sector the sector is struggling to recover, this new measure of reducing import duties from 40% to 2.5%, included in the 2025 finance law, risks dealing a fatal blow to Moroccan beekeeping and worsening the difficulties already encountered by local producers.
« This decision would have gone unnoticed without the intervention of the parliamentary group which raised it, while we consider that it is a legislation which absolutely does not serve the national economy and which is in contradiction with the instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him, to improve food sovereignty in our country“, specifies the same source.
And to add: “ Elle totally contradicts the support that the State gives to the development of the beekeeping sector in Morocco, whether within the framework of the National Initiative for Human Development or other development programs, or through the Green Generation Plan and, before, the Green Morocco Plan« .
The adoption and implementation of this decision to reduce import duties will deal a devastating blow to local investments in the beekeeping sector, leading to the elimination of thousands of jobs, both permanent and seasonal, warns the Union.
According to these professionals, this measure constitutes the culmination of a decline initiated by article 10 of decree no. 2.17.463 of November 14, 2017, which authorizes the mixing of Moroccan honey with imported honey. This legislation has created a disadvantageous situation for beekeepers, where only a quarter of the beneficiaries are made up of a limited number of companies, to the detriment of thousands of beekeepers, whose number stood at 36,300 according to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture in 2019.
Thus, the union calls for urgent measures to be taken to stop the importation of honey from abroad, as the imported quantities mix with domestic honey and compromise its quality. This situation harms the reputation of the national product and risks leading the beekeeping profession in Morocco towards an unacceptable decline.
In addition, it is essential for the union to combat the wave of honey fraud, orchestrated by certain traders in the markets, and to guarantee sanctions for any form of fraud or falsification, in order to protect the integrity of the sector beekeeping.
