The Ministry of Industry and Trade took the decision to subject the sale of argan oil to the export licensing system, with the aim of valuing it to create a better added value. In a decision addressed to “liquid gold” exporters, the ministry indicated that roasted and unroasted argan oil provided in bottles larger than 5 liters will be subject, as of July 1, 2022, to the export licensing system.
From this date, exporters wishing to benefit from the above export licenses must submit their applications to the authorities, accompanied by a copy of the provisional invoice.
Reasons for the decision
In response to a question about the reasons for taking this decision, government spokesman Mustafa Baytas explained, on Thursday, April 7, that the submission of argan oil, which is in bottles of more than 5 liters, to the export licensing system is to “control the exported quantities and preserve the jobs of workers in sector in Morocco, especially those who fill bottles.
According to the spokesman, the oil exported in large quantities does not benefit the Moroccan economy. On the other hand, he stressed that filling small bottles with oil provides job opportunities for Moroccan labor, hence the need to monitor the method of its exploitation.
It should be noted that the Authenticity and Modernity team in the House of Representatives (a majority) had called for banning the export of argan as a raw material abroad, stressing the need to fully value it in Morocco by 2024, to create a better added value.
Cooperative bankruptcy
Khaled Hatami, a parliamentarian from the aforementioned party, considered in a written question addressed to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, Mohamed Seddiqi, that “it is unreasonable that some foreign companies monopolizing raw materials in Morocco market the product abroad at a price of 20 euros per liter.” While inside the producing country and due to the lack of the raw material monopolized by these companies, the cooperatives are forced to market “argan” oil at 500 and 600 dirhams per liter, which led to the bankruptcy of a large number of these cooperatives.
The parliamentarian stressed, “the need to give priority to rural women in the right to obtain raw materials at appropriate prices through the fund to support this vital material, so that they can live a decent life.”
Argan oil appraisal
Regarding the valorization of argan oil, Dr. Abdessalam Hasnaoui, a specialist in natural resource management in Morocco and territorial development at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakesh, highlighted, “The largest proportion of argan forests is concentrated between Agadir and Taroudant. This region alone represents 67 percent of the area of this ecosystem distributed according to The next rankings are Taroudant 42 percent, Agadir 25 percent, Tiznit 16 percent, Essaouira 15 percent and Chichaoua-Safi 2 percent.
And the expert continued, in a statement to “Sky News Arabia” that, based on these statistical figures, “more work must be done to value the argan tree sector, by intensifying efforts to protect its areas of spread, and thus creating a strategic vision that envisages the management dimension of the forest strip, in which the argan tree spreads on the one hand, on the one hand, And creating local economic development by providing job opportunities for the local population on the other hand.”
Hasnawi stressed the need to carry out a soil diagnosis of the areas of the spread of the argan tree in order to identify the areas that need intervention by the trustee institutions, and to build a comprehensive national program to value this sector based on strategic territorial planning.
The expert also stressed the need to organize times of exploitation of the argan tree and to determine the periods of exploitation according to seasons, calling for the organization of training courses and scientific meetings in order to raise the level of awareness and sensitize the importance of this tree.
Dr. Abd al-Salam Hasnawi pointed out the importance of creating twinning agreements between various cooperatives and contracting to create economic development based on creating job opportunities and preserving the natural heritage of the argan tree, in addition to creating programs related to afforestation of the argan tree and expanding its area according to the climatic characteristics that suit its nature and growth characteristics.
In conclusion, the speaker stressed the necessity of enacting injunctive laws against everyone who decided to exploit the argan tree without a legal right or legal capacity in order to protect and preserve it.
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