France and Morocco Reach Agreement to Ease Visa Restrictions for Truck Drivers

Moroccan truck drivers can rub their hands. After the meeting on November 22 between the President of the CGEM, Chakib Alj, and Franck Reister, the French Minister in charge of Trade, who was visiting Morocco, a working meeting was held on Thursday, December 2 in Rabat, during which the visa restriction measures imposed by France were discussed. Present at this meeting were the Transport and Logistics Federation (FTL), affiliated with the CGEM, Hélène Le Gal, the French Ambassador to Morocco, the Consuls General of France in Rabat and Casablanca, the economic advisor of the embassy, as well as a delegation from the CGEM, including Abdelilah Hifdi, Badr Alioua, Samia Terhzaz and Driss Bernoussi.

"During this working meeting, which took place in a spirit of understanding and constructive cooperation, the Moroccan side detailed the difficulties and obstacles encountered by the TIR community in obtaining Schengen visas, particularly with regard to the rather long waiting times," the Transport and Logistics Federation (FTL), affiliated with the CGEM, said in a statement. "The annual number of visas issued by the Consulates General of Rabat and Casablanca during the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 has shown a continuous increase. On the other hand, with regard to the deadlines, the French side reported opaque files containing various irregularities," the French side stressed.

At the end of the discussions, the French and Moroccan parties agreed to put in place "a clear and specific procedure, based on a specification, allowing both to facilitate the filing of visa applications and their obtaining and to deal with the various unethical practices that the FTL-CGEM constantly denounces and firmly condemns," the same source said.

The FTL also states that the provisions of the specification will be examined and finalized at an upcoming meeting, scheduled this week with the French side. These provisions will allow in the future "any Moroccan TIR operator meeting the set conditions to have visas, in a reduced time frame and in a clear and transparent manner," it adds.