The brokers face an upward popular rejection … and questions of the possibility of legalization

The brokers in the Moroccan markets recently face an escalating popular rejection, so that they are accused of causing the high prices of food and consumer products, amid a wide gap between what farmers and producers sell and what consumers pay in the last sale.

In this context, the head of the parliamentary team of the Popular Movement in the House of Representatives, Idris Al -Santisi, asked a question to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in which he referred to a report by the Competition Council that revealed that the brokers acquire more than 50 percent of the value of the products, which makes them, according to him, “one of the high costs of many products.”

Al -Santisi warned the Ministry of Industry and Trade that “if the profession of intermediaries is necessary in the link between the product and the consumer, then the multiplicity of intermediaries requires legalization and control of their activities, as well as the profits they get.”

This situation raises questions about the government’s need for an urgent intervention to restructure the marketing system, especially with the increasing popular pressure rejecting the role of unorganized mediators; While mediation is seen as a necessary bridge between the producer and the consumer, the absence of controls exacerbates the crisis, and places the government in front of the challenge of achieving a balance between organizing this activity and protecting farmers and consumers alike.

Economist Mohamed Shulhiri believes that the popular rejection of the high cost and the role of brokers is the result of discussions circulating on social media during the last period, which focused on the fact that speculators, monopolists and brokers are the main reason for high prices.

Shadri stressed, in a statement to Hespress, that this rejection was “expected”, noting that today, from the Supreme Council of Accounts to the Economic and Social Council, the Competition Council and the government, “it admits that the marketing system in our country is marred by many obstacles due to the multiplicity of intermediaries, speculators and monopolists.”

The same analyst considered that this system “needs a comprehensive re -consideration”, explaining that “it is not acceptable for anyone to become a mediator in the sale of food products without controls, while other professions such as insurance, banking products and pharmacy are organized with strict conditions”, and highlighting that “the absence of the organization allows many people to practice mediation, speculation or monopoly, which requires setting specific conditions, such as” Baj ” Tirmness notebook to control this activity. ”

The economist himself cited an example of tomatoes, “which are sold in the estate at a price ranging between two dirhams and three dirhams, while reaching the final consumer with ten or more dirhams”, referring to “the presence of a series of young, medium and adult brokers, as well as speculators, monopolists and the rentier system”, stressing that these “take advantage of the crises of Moroccans to enrich”; He also called for “determining the value chain from its beginning to its end to prevent this exploitation, by reviewing the marketing system altogether and in detail,” as he put it.

For his part, Bouazza Al -Kharti, President of the Moroccan University for Consumer Rights, considered that “the government’s policy succeeded in making the fingers of the intermediaries,” noting that “the abuse and the failure to control the market are the two main reasons for their growing numbers and their multiplication at all levels and in all markets.”

Al -Khargi warned, in an interview with Hespress, that “the legalization of the activity of the mediators may lead to official recognition of them, which will keep the consumer and the main affected producer from their presence,” considering that “this legalization will not solve the problem radically, but may enhance their presence without addressing the gap in the prices that they benefit from at the expense of the two parties.”

The President of the Moroccan University for Consumer Rights inferred examples from the Moroccan market, such as the National Bureau of Maritime Fishing, which is an official mediator that “has not been issued any clarification on the reasons for the high fish prices”, considering that it is “the main reason for this high cost”; In addition to the law of the agricultural complex, which has been reducing the number of brokers in the marketing of agricultural products, “has not been successful as the Ministry of Agriculture planned due to lack of confidence and control, with the exception of the milk sector that has been organized since 1934.”