Morocco: As the holidays approach, alert on counterfeit alcohol

"This market is experiencing a major boom throughout the year, with variations in quality depending on the category and price, which makes the phenomenon worrying from the point of view of the health safety of consumers," said Bouazza Kharrati, president of the Moroccan Federation of Consumer Rights. In a statement to Hespress, Kharrati added that "despite the existence of multiple classifications of these products, their distribution takes place outside any clear legal framework."

The smuggling of alcohol is a recurring problem in Morocco, the official recalled, stressing that the continued illegal entry of these products onto the market, despite the efforts of the competent customs services, raises questions about the effectiveness of control. "The lack of strict control is not limited to food products only, but also includes industrial products and services, with each administration being responsible for a specific area without achieving tangible results, which contributes to the persistence of the same dysfunctions," he said. Kharrati also stressed the need to create "a unified body dedicated to consumer rights," an entity that will receive complaints and oversee the control of all sectors in order to guarantee the quality of products and protect the health of citizens, and put an end to the anarchy in the sector.

For his part, Ali Chtour, president of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Consumer Rights, stated that "any citizen wishing to acquire a given product must ensure that he buys it from known places and businesses subject to control, such as supermarkets and authorized cafes, in order to avoid the widespread fraud and deception in anarchic markets and outside these organized spaces." And to continue: "Turning to products from disreputable and uncontrolled places, then complaining about fraud or deception, remains an unconscious behavior; because the source of the danger lies in the choice of unreliable places. What we need today is to consolidate a culture of consumption among citizens, based on awareness and vigilance, so that they always turn to places subject to control, and verify the essential information of the product before buying it, in particular the expiration date."

Chtour concluded by stressing that "the citizen remains the essential actor in regulating the market and protecting himself, and we should not only wait for the intervention of others, but we must strengthen individual awareness and personal vigilance, and establish a culture of consumption based on responsibility and vigilance."