Moroccan Truckers Face Ongoing Penalties Despite Spain’s Fuel Discount Concession

The Spanish penalties still activated and applied to Moroccan transporters constitute a real danger for the sector, said the Vice-President of the Moroccan Association of Intercontinental Road Transporters AMTRI, Abdelhak Nejjar, supporting his statement with a document from a transporter who paid a fine on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, for not having refueled on Spanish territory, informs Maroc-diplomatique.

Although Spain has reduced the penalties by 70% or 80%, the damage is still there. Moreover, the measure put in place by Tanger Med does not equal that of the Spaniards. "The fact of only asking for a copy of the contract or the registration card, changes nothing compared to what Spain has done as a barrier, for us the forwarders," explained Mr. Nejjar, adding that the situation is poisoning the competitiveness of the Kingdom, causing losses in terms of foreign exchange for the country.

To recall, a few months ago, Spain had introduced a "tax barrier" on Moroccan freight transporters, by imposing fines on trucks that did not refuel on Spanish territory. In response to this measure, the port of Tangier has prohibited any company that does not have a cooperation contract with a Moroccan company from entering the country. A counter-measure that does not meet the expectations of Moroccan transporters.

"We have several cards that we can play to put pressure on them and this, to open the door to discussions between the two countries. At our level, we are asking to settle the problem through negotiations and to do the same as we did with Turkey to raise the place of the sector in the national economy," he estimated, hammering that it is important to review the collaboration contracts.