The Challenge

Certificates of Conformity (CoC) are key trade documents stating that imported products comply with a country’s safety and quality standards. In Morocco, a wide range of industrial products require CoCs to enter the country. Introduced in 2020, the current CoC system is overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

While the CoC system plays an important role in protecting consumers from unsafe or counterfeit goods, it can also create challenges for traders..

Obtaining a CoC can be time-consuming and difficult to navigate. When physical inspections or laboratory testing are required, certification can take several weeks before goods can even be shipped.

Importers must also pay inspection and certification fees, sometimes combined with additional costs related to testing, documentation, storage or demurrage. Together, these challenges may increase costs, and create unnecessary delays for companies trading in Morocco.

In some cases, inconsistencies between product descriptions, tariff classifications, applicable standards, and verification mechanisms create challenges for both traders and officials responsible for the CoC system. And as is often the case, complexity disproportionately affects MSMEs.

 

What We Are Doing

The Alliance is working with Moroccan authorities and private sector stakeholders to identify practical solutions to streamline the CoC system while maintaining strong safeguards for consumer protection.

The project is focusing on four areas:

  • Diagnostic and analysis: mapping the CoC process end-to-end to identify bottlenecks and establish baseline data on time and costs.
  • Procedural improvements: testing practical measures to simplify procedures, remove unnecessary steps, and improve predictability for traders.
  • System streamlining and digitalisation: improving the electronic CoC process and strengthening interoperability between PortNet, Ministry systems, and customs risk-management tools.
  • Public–private dialogue: establishing a CoC Advisory Committee to support continuous dialogue between government and the private sector and help guide future reforms.

This approach focuses both on short-term procedural improvements and on longer-term reforms, including stronger risk management and closer alignment with international standards.

 

The Impact

By improving how the Certificate of Conformity system works in practice, the project will:

  • Reduce unnecessary administrative burdens and costs for traders.
  • Improve transparency and predictability in certification procedures.
  • Streamline digital processes and information exchange between government agencies.
  • Strengthen collaboration between authorities and the private sector.