Morocco Suspends Veterinary Inspections in Slaughterhouses, Raising Food Safety Concerns

A major risk hangs over the meat distributed to consumers by slaughterhouses across the country. For a few days now, the meat being consumed has not undergone any veterinary inspection, which opens the door to possible contamination and the possibility of exposing consumers to very serious diseases.

In a previous report, the High Commission for Planning (HCP), which had urged the Government to react quickly, had sounded the alarm on the lack of hygiene standards in slaughterhouses. In their majority, they do not comply with the necessary measures and standards.

Non-compliance with sanitary norms and standards means the exposure of millions of consumers to infectious diseases. Despite the circulars issued, the Government, in particular the Ministry of the Interior, has taken no initiative to combat clandestine slaughter, let alone to establish a national policy against this scourge.

Veterinarian Bouazza El Kharrat, also President of the Moroccan Association for Consumer Protection, denounced the passive attitude of the services concerned, despite the many alerts reported for more than 15 years. He stressed that "uncontrolled slaughterhouses that do not comply with the necessary standards live at the mercy of bacteria, due to the accumulation of blood and garbage, with the risk of meat contamination, and consequently, of the final consumer".