Jul 18, 2024Moroccan market opens to US seed potatoes
The Moroccan market, worth an estimated $8 million, is now open to U.S. seed potatoes. The May 10 opening capped a regulatory process that began in 2015.
The U.S. and Morocco agreed to the final requirements for import during Plant Health Bilateral Meetings between the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Morocco’s sanitary authority (ONSSA) from May 6-10, according to a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) report.
Morocco’s food processing industry has expressed interest in importing U.S. varieties of potatoes for planting that can be used to make potato chips and french fries, according to the report. U.S. exporters can begin shipping as soon as there are Moroccan buyers.
In 2023, Morocco imported more than $42 million in seed potatoes, primarily from the European Union (Netherlands, Denmark and France) and the United Kingdom.
FAS Morocco, in collaboration with Potatoes USA, has successfully registered five U.S. varieties of seed potatoes for import into Morocco: Atlantic, Chieftain, Cal White, Ranger Russet and Clearwater Russet, according to the report.
FAS and Potatoes USA used FAS’s Quality Samples Program to bring in potatoes for field trials necessary to register these varieties.
