Morocco Imports 1,300 French Calves to Boost Red Meat Supply

The shipment was transported directly to Morocco on a special ship from the port of Marseille in France, a source in the sector told Hespress, specifying that it was imported by two suppliers from the provinces of El Jadida and Ouarzazate.

"The imported calves belong to different breeds, including ’Holstein’ and ’Limousin’, with the specific objective of boosting the red meat market in the kingdom," notes the same source, adding that this shipment of calves "was the subject of all analyzes and a quarantine period (15 days) before being authorized by the services of the National Office of Food Safety of Food Products (ONSSA)" to enter Moroccan territory.

This operation is in line with "imports approved by the competent government authorities to make up for the deficit recorded at the national level and to restore the reconstitution of the national herd of cattle and calves for slaughter," it is recalled, specifying that "last week, import operations took place via trucks".

For its part, a professional source within the Moroccan Federation of Livestock Sector Actors supported that the import of cattle and calves aims to support the red meat sector and strengthen the national herd, indicating that Moroccan importers mainly source from Spain and France, but also from Ireland and Portugal to a lesser extent.