France Tightens Visa Rules for Moroccan Truck Drivers, Impacting Exports

This tightening of visa application procedures for truck drivers is hampering the export of perishable goods, reports the newspaper Les Inspirations Eco, which reports more than 350 visas refused just for the month of October.

These are "carriers from the Souss-Massa region as well as those from the southern regions of Morocco who are facing the systematic refusal to grant visas to their professional drivers in particular by the French consular services," says the newspaper, adding that their "trucks are immobilized, not because of the lack of demand, but because of the shortage of drivers with visas for the transport of fresh and perishable products to the European community market".

To get around the situation, professionals have found a solution in optimizing the routes between the two shores of the Mediterranean with drivers who have Schengen visas. But they also call on other consular services (Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium) to facilitate the granting of visas. The truckers say that the Spanish and Dutch consular services were among the first to respond favorably.