The cost of compliance with SPS standards for Moroccan exports : a case study

The aim of this study is to better understand the: i) relative importance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards in developing country exporter-developed country importer relationships; ii) evolving sets of laws, regulations, and private protocols governing SPS and other standards within fresh produce trade; iii) perceptions about strengths and weaknesses of developing country suppliers in meeting these standards; iii) measures and strategies (and their corresponding costs) that private companies are taking to monitor and ensure standards compliance; and iv) possible roles of organizations such as the World Bank in assisting developing countries to improve competitiveness of their fresh produce industries. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: chapter two is a general description and analysis of the fresh produce export sector in Morocco, with special emphasis on the citrus and tomatoes sub-sectors. The chapter describes the contribution of tomatoes and citrus to overall exports; and the production, trade, supply chain structure, and specific market access limitations in the two sub-sectors; chapter three contains an analysis of the SPS issues in the citrus and tomatoes markets, including costs and strategies of the various actors in the supply chains. The chapter presents a summary of Moroccan sanitary and phytosanitary regulations and their enforcement and describes the food safety and quality control systems for citrus and tomatoes being implemented by Moroccan exporters; and chapter four presents the conclusions and recommendations of the study.