Tensions Rise Between Mauritania, Rabat Over Surge in Customs Duties on Moroccan Vegetables Crossing Occupied Guerguerat Border Crossing
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- Growing tensions between Rabat and Nouakchott have become evident due to a substantial 171% increase in customs duties on Moroccan vegetables entering Mauritania.
Although the Mauritanian government has not officially announced this increase, Moroccan truck drivers confirmed that they were surprised by it two days ago while completing the crossing procedures from the occupied Guerguerat border crossing to Mauritania. They were informed by Mauritanian customs authorities that they are now required to pay taxes to the Mauritanian customs, exceeding the taxes they paid in the previous year by 171%.
As a result, Moroccan vegetable trucks will now have to pay a customs duty of 48,000 Moroccan Dirhams instead of the previous amount of 18,000 Dirhams paid to Mauritanian customs.
While some Moroccan truck drivers chose to wait at the border point, creating a large gathering of transport vehicles, others decided to return to Morocco to sell their unsold cargo.
This situation has had a ripple effect on Mauritanian vegetable markets, with consumers reporting a significant increase in vegetable prices at the Morocco Mosque market in Nouakchott.
The Mauritanian Consumer Forum stated in a released statement that “vegetable prices in the markets of the capital, Nouakchott, have increased at the beginning of this year due to the significant increase in customs fees imposed on imported vegetables.”
The forum added that “the customs duties on some imported vegetables increased by 100%, and 50% for other types,” warning “that this development will increase the concerns of the Mauritanian consumer. It will also erode their purchasing power, already burdened by the constant rise in prices, monopolies, and inflation.”
The forum emphasized the “need to balance between encouraging local production and providing essential consumer goods to ensure that the purchasing power of the consumer, especially those with limited incomes from vulnerable groups, is not compromised.”
Mauritanian Minister of Economy Abdel Salam Mohamed Saleh previously confirmed in recent statements that “it is important to protect local production periodically. We have the right to protect our seasonal production when there is strong competition or when the risk of loss is noticed.”
An official in the Mauritanian Ministry of Agriculture clarified that “the reintroduction of these fees will be limited to the peak period of local harvest, between January and February each year, to support local production.”
Informed Mauritanian sources related to this matter confirmed that “the decision to increase customs duties on Moroccan imports is part of a general direction of the Mauritanian authorities to transfer the successful rice experience to vegetables, making the Mauritanian economy more capable of dealing with market fluctuations in the future. Current figures indicate self-sufficiency rates of 89% for rice and 30% for vegetables, which means that there is still a lot of work to be done to localize vegetables, especially since Mauritania has significant untapped agricultural potential.”
An economic expert linked the recent increases in customs duties and taxes to the government’s efforts to control spending and improve tax collection levels in the face of budget deficits. This is taking place within the ongoing implementation of an economic and financial reform program agreed upon between the International Monetary Fund and the Mauritanian government, extending from 2023 to 2026.
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