Barely three weeks following the initial prohibition on transshipment activities at Moroccan ports, the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions (ABEF) has recently received directives to recommence the domiciliation of imported goods that passed through Moroccan ports.
Issued directly by the Algerian Ministry of Transport, the instructions, conveyed by the ABEF, instruct the association’s services to facilitate the domiciliation of all import operations, particularly those involving perishable items, notably meat, shipped before January 10, 2024.
This resumption of domiciliation is currently restricted to cargoes dispatched before the Moroccan port transshipment ban. Nonetheless, this reversal contrasts starkly with the stringent and definitive ban declared just three weeks earlier.
Furthermore, these new directives underscore that the initial prohibition on domiciliation operations for contracts involving transshipment/transit through Moroccan ports, as per the ABEF’s initial notice, did not adequately consider the far-reaching implications of such a decision. Consequently, the firm embargo sought by Algiers is now compromised by the necessity to domicile shipments destined for Algeria, especially perishable goods such as meat, indicating the urgency prompting this policy adjustment.
Although the political impact of the Algerian decision appears marginal, causing potential economic repercussions primarily for the Algerian economy and increased costs for importers, it also disrupts maritime carriers, compelling them to adapt their operations.
Notably, shipping companies Maersk and CMA CGM have recently announced alterations to their maritime routes affecting connections with Algerian ports. These adjustments include reducing or eliminating the passage of containers through the port of Tangier Med to Algeria, despite it being a key transshipment hub in the Mediterranean for both companies.