Morocco Tightens Rules on Foreign Land Purchases to Protect Agricultural Areas

In order to preserve agricultural land, Morocco has adopted a set of legal provisions regulating the appropriation of land by foreigners as well as their investments in this sector. In this context, three sectoral ministries have reminded the administrations and authorities of the prevalence of the principle of balance between the preservation of a "reasonable" level of land sovereignty and the stimulation and encouragement of investment, reports SRNT News.

According to the texts, any foreign buyer must have a certificate of non-agricultural vocation and present said certificate when applying to acquire land located outside the urban perimeter or to acquire buildings belonging to authorized subdivisions and whose land costs have been paid, the ministries recall.

As for real estate located outside urban areas and not belonging to these first two categories, the ministries call on the competent administrations to strictly respect the required conditions before issuing the certificate of non-agricultural character.

Among these, they note the obligation that the project in question be a non-agricultural investment project, that the certificate not be delivered for areas with high agricultural potential and that the area of the real estate in question correspond to the area necessary for the realization of the project.

Given the importance of this issue, the ministries urge the administrations and the authorities concerned to attach the greatest importance to the implementation of the measures outlined in the circular and to mobilize the necessary means to apply these provisions.