Consumer protection in Morocco is primarily governed by Law No. 31-08 on consumer protection and enforced by the Consumer Protection Directorate within the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Directorate is responsible for ensuring compliance with consumer information obligations, combating misleading commercial practices, supervising market surveillance, and coordinating enforcement actions with other competent national authorities. Its mandate extends across traditional retail markets and, increasingly, digital and cross-border commercial activities affecting Moroccan consumers.
Recent Enforcement Trends and Investigations:
In recent months, the Consumer Protection Directorate has intensified its enforcement activity, reflecting a broader governmental focus on market regulation and consumer rights protection. The Directorate has shown increased interest in e-commerce and digital sales channels, where inspections have targeted both domestic and foreign operators offering goods and services to consumers in Morocco. Investigations have identified recurrent infringements, notably misleading or deceptive commercial practices, failure to provide mandatory pre-contractual information, non-compliance with statutory withdrawal and refund rights, absence of clear contractual terms, and breaches of applicable language requirements for consumer-facing content. Enforcement actions in this area have included formal warnings, compliance orders, and corrective measures imposed on non-compliant operators. Beyond online commerce, the Directorate has also been actively involved in extensive market surveillance operations. These operations have been conducted through mixed provincial and regional inspection commissions and have focused on identifying illegal commercial practices, unsafe or expired products, and non-authorized trading activities. Following these inspections, the competent authorities carried out field interventions, that led to sanctions including orders to close unlicensed commercial premises, seizures of non-compliant or unsafe goods, and initiated legal proceedings against operators found to be in breach of consumer protection and related regulations.
Institutional Cooperation at the National Level:
Enforcement activity by the Consumer Protection Directorate is carried out within a coordinated national framework involving several Moroccan authorities. The Directorate works closely with the Customs and Indirect Tax Administration, local administrative authorities, and sector-specific regulators. Of particular relevance is its cooperation with the Office National de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires (ONSSA), the national authority responsible for food safety and the sanitary control of agricultural and food products. This inter-institutional cooperation enables integrated inspections, information sharing, and coordinated enforcement measures, particularly in cases involving product safety, public health, and cross-sector regulatory breaches.
International Cooperation and Cross-Border Enforcement:
At present, there are no publicly reported indications of recent direct international or cross-border cooperation initiatives led by the Consumer Protection Directorate itself. While the Directorate’s enforcement efforts increasingly address activities of foreign online sellers targeting Moroccan consumers, these actions appear to be conducted primarily within a national enforcement framework. Any international coordination is typically indirect and may occur through other Moroccan authorities or multilateral regulatory channels rather than through formal bilateral cooperation mechanisms involving the Directorate.
The recent enforcement activity confirms a clear trend towards heightened scrutiny of consumer-facing businesses, particularly in the digital and e-commerce sectors. Operators active in the Moroccan market should expect continued regulatory attention to transparency obligations, consumer information requirements, and product compliance standards. Companies, including foreign entities targeting Moroccan consumers, should review their commercial practices, contractual documentation, and online interfaces to ensure full alignment with Law No. 31-08 and related sectoral regulations. Continued coordination between Moroccan authorities suggests that enforcement actions are likely to remain robust and increasingly systematic in the coming months.
AUTHOR
Walaae Mahnaoui
