Morocco Seeks to Ease Textile Export Rules, Sparking Concerns in Spanish Industry

Under the Paneo Agreement on rules of origin, Morocco currently cannot export textiles to Europe without customs duties, unless it is a product of origin or has undergone at least two transformations. Morocco is studying the possibility of carrying out a single transformation to validate the product of origin. "This would lead to the possible entry of products from third countries without customs duties. For example, products of Asian origin would find another new gateway and could very easily be imported at no cost," explains José Serna, president of the Spanish Intertextile Council, to El Economista.

For its part, Turkey "has launched a new anti-dumping circumvention investigation procedure that affects textile exports of European products, including many Spanish products, claiming that they must prove that these products do not originate from Asia (China, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand)," Serna continues, specifying that this process hinders the free movement of goods, as the Turkish authorities do not give credit to traditional certificates of origin and require greater proof of their origin.

According to Ángel Asensio, president of the Spanish Confederation of Fashion, "these barriers show, among other things, the influence of politics on the development of trade." For him, "trade and customs regulations are also a source of friction in trade, with non-transparent measures that can lead to an increase in import prices of European products, a loss of market share and competitiveness by being higher than the local market."