t'is the season

New campaign to boycott Algerian dates in Morocco

By Rym Bousmid

Premium badge Reserved for subscribers

Posted on March 24, 2023 09:50

 © Dates in a Moroccan market, January 3, 2016. Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto via AFP
Dates in a Moroccan market, January 3, 2016. Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto via AFP

Just ahead of Ramadan, Moroccan internet users called for a boycott of Algerian dates, several quintals of which were destroyed at the start of the week of 12 March in Casablanca. Accused of ‘flooding the Moroccan market’ and of being carcinogenic, these dates were deemed to promote ‘unfair competition’.

Half a tonne of dates from Algeria were destroyed by the Moroccan authorities on 13 March.

Illegally imported, they were seized in the warehouse of a commercial building in the Derb Sultan district of Casablanca. According to the local press, the owner of the warehouse was unable to provide the authorities with “the proper authorisation demonstrating the legality of the fruit import”.

There's more to this story

Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Africa. Unlocked.

Subscribe Now

cancel anytime