Morocco Considers Free Trade Zone Near Ceuta to Combat Smuggling

"This form of smuggling has repercussions, not only on the situation of the women and men carrying goods, but also on trade flows between the provinces of Tetouan and M’diq-Fnideq". These are the conclusions of the report of the parliamentary mission on food smuggling at the Bab Sebta crossing point. This report was the subject of a debate, on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, during a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Islamic Affairs and Moroccans Residing Abroad at the House of Representatives.

Several recommendations are included in this report. We can cite, among others, the realization of a socio-economic study on the social categories concerned in order to better understand their social conditions, level of education and needs in terms of access to the labor market, the mobilization of qualified human resources in order to humanize and organize, in an optimal way, the passage of Bab Sebta, while putting in place electronic means of organization to control the flows on site and improve the health and hygiene conditions pending sustainable solutions...

In addition, the report advocates the launch of an industrial zone in the medium term that could absorb the women who engage in "food smuggling". "The phenomenon of food smuggling is eminently complex insofar as it has economic, social and cultural dimensions," said the Minister of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family, Jamila El Moussali.

Based on this finding, she called for the promotion of vocational training to promote the empowerment of women carriers of goods, whose number is around 3,500, according to the report.