Morocco to Strengthen Customs Brokerage Standards with New Legislative Amendments

In a significant move aimed at enhancing the integrity and professionalism within the customs brokerage sector in Morocco, the government is poised to implement strict legislative amendments as part of the 2027 finance bill. This initiative mandates all accredited customs brokers to adhere to a performance charter established by the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration. The overarching objective is to standardize professional practices, improve the oversight of customs clearance operations, and regulate the management of documentation and data associated with imports and exports. This reform will apply uniformly to both existing and new professionals in the field, ensuring a cohesive regulatory environment that enhances compliance and accountability. According to Article 3 of Finance Bill No. 60.26, the revision of Article 68 of the Customs and Indirect Taxes Code will require applicants for customs brokerage licenses to comply with the stipulations of the aforementioned performance charter. This charter must be submitted along with their license applications, alongside other documents specified by customs authorities. This compliance is now considered a crucial component of the licensing process, which reflects a significant shift towards stricter regulatory enforcement in the customs sector. The anticipated performance charter is expected to encompass various aspects including the organization of brokerage offices, the qualification of human resources, document preservation, access security to customs information systems, and ensuring traceability of completed operations. It will also delineate professional and ethical obligations to minimize discrepancies in the interpretation of applicable rules, particularly during inspections conducted by the authorities. This reform is not limited to new applicants; it will also extend to existing brokers who will receive a transitional period of 12 months from the date the performance charter is published, allowing them to submit the required documentation to customs authorities. The recent developments indicate a concerted effort by the Customs Administration to enhance the governance of professions and services related to foreign trade. This follows a similar approach applied to customs warehouse and clearance yard operators, who underwent a phased regulation through a performance charter legislated in 2014, subsequently detailed by administrative circulars. Discussions surrounding the charter have revealed that the primary goal is not to alter the foundational principles governing customs brokerage but rather to clarify aspects that have led to varied interpretations of legal and regulatory texts. This clarity is particularly vital during inspections and audits of professional files, facilitating a unified reference for compliance monitoring and precise definition of obligations. Furthermore, discussions have focused on the standardization of record-keeping practices and the management of documents pertinent to customs operations, which includes specifying locations for document retention, regulating the outsourcing of archiving services, and clarifying responsibilities of brokerage offices regarding data integrity and accessibility during monitoring and auditing processes. Given the nature of documents handled by customs brokers—such as customs declarations, commercial invoices, transport documents, certificates of origin, and documents confirming customs value—effective management of these documents is critical for verifying the accuracy of commercial transactions and ensuring adherence to legal and regulatory obligations imposed on foreign trade participants. Moreover, the professional discourse surrounding the performance charter has extended to the regulation of physical access to customs offices and facilities, ensuring proper use of professional badges by employees and outlining procedures to be followed when employment relationships end between a broker and their staff. This measure is designed to revoke access privileges for employees who no longer work within the institution, distinguishing these procedures from those related to electronic access to customs information systems. Technical aspects also encompass the management of electronic data encryption keys, known as PKI, which are crucial for securing digital transactions. The emphasis on revoking access rights immediately upon an employee's departure from the brokerage office aims to prevent unauthorized use of access to customs information systems by individuals no longer affiliated with the accredited institution. The importance of these measures is underscored by the increasing digitization of customs processes and the adoption of electronic declarations and transactions, necessitating robust security measures for digital identification and signatures while enabling clear accountability for actions recorded within information systems. Additionally, the ongoing consultations aim to standardize the nomenclature and data used in invoicing services provided by brokerage offices to mitigate discrepancies in the description of billed operations and services. Standardized rules in this domain will enhance the traceability of services and operations, facilitating the alignment of invoices with actual professional interventions, particularly in instances where customs declaration preparation overlaps with transportation, handling, warehousing, and other logistics services. The approach draws from past experiences in regulating customs warehouses and clearance yards, which have seen the development of requirements related to security, monitoring, and tracking, including the determination of camera locations and the maintenance of records for gate openings and closures. However, the application of similar provisions to customs brokers remains contingent upon the content of the forthcoming performance charter, as the finance bill does not explicitly stipulate penalties or new conditions for license revocation due to non-compliance with the charter. This necessitates a distinction between currently proposed legal obligations and the regulatory measures that may be defined subsequently. The anticipated reform has ignited discussions concerning the development of professional qualification standards within brokerage offices in light of the critical role brokers play in ensuring the accuracy of customs declarations and compliance with legal procedures related to imports and exports. Increased reliance on digital methods for processing commercial files has further emphasized the need for an upgrade in professional standards. Data from international experiences indicate the potential for incorporating performance measurement indicators, including processing times for files and customs declaration correction rates, which would enable the evaluation of service quality and compliance levels. However, the inclusion of such indicators in the Moroccan performance charter has yet to be finalized and remains one of the proposed enhancements to professional practice conditions. Discussions have also touched upon the mandatory retention period for professional archives, with industry information suggesting a duration of four years for certain customs-related documents in Morocco, compared to five years in the United States. There is potential for a national review of this retention period to align with requirements for subsequent monitoring of customs operations, although the finance bill does not explicitly propose an extension, considering variations in retention periods based on the nature of the documents and the regulatory texts governing them. Continuous training for customs declarants is another aspect that has emerged as a necessity to keep pace with the frequent amendments to customs tariffs, origin rules, classification, and customs value determinations, alongside technological advancements related to electronic declaration systems and data exchange between administration and economic operators. These facets are particularly significant for brokerage offices, which vary in terms of operational scale and human and technical capacities. The adoption of unified regulatory requirements may impose additional needs for updating IT equipment, securing data, and training personnel, underscoring the need to balance new obligations against the compliance capabilities of professional institutions, particularly smaller and medium-sized offices that may face greater financial and organizational burdens compared to larger institutions. Initial communication between the Customs Administration and the professional association of accredited brokers in Morocco indicates that the development of the performance charter will proceed in consultation with industry representatives. An initial meeting was convened to present the reform objectives and scope, while discussing practical aspects related to archiving, access to customs offices, encryption key management, and invoicing. Follow-up consultations are expected to continue in a second meeting dedicated to examining the detailed provisions of the charter after parliamentary approval of the finance bill, contingent upon maintaining the current wording of Article 3. Ultimately, the resolution of final obligations will depend on the outcomes of the legislative process and the dialogue between the administration and professionals, particularly regarding technical requirements, human resources, and compliance monitoring mechanisms. The performance charter is anticipated to serve as an organizational reference for the relationship between the Customs Administration and customs brokers.

As reported by hespress.com.