Consumer protection regulations serve to safeguarding individuals from unfair, deceptive, or harmful market practices. In so far as consumer protection regulations address unfair and deceptive market practices, they do overlap with competition law. Competition law seeks to regulate business practices and transactions to preserve fair competition, in part, to prevent inflated prices, declining quality of products and services, and other negative effects of market dominance for consumers. In Morocco, the evolution of both consumer protection and competition regulations reflects the growing significance of individual rights in the context of increasingly complex commercial transactions.
Consumer protection in Morocco
Morocco's primary consumer protection legislation, Law No. 31-08, was enacted in 2011 and encompasses a comprehensive array of consumer rights. Key consumer rights established by the law include:
- right to information — entitling consumers to clear, accurate, and transparent information about products and services, compelling businesses to advertise honestly, correct labeling, and full disclosure about pricing, ingredients, and other relevant product details;
- right to fair contract terms — protecting consumers from unfair terms and conditions in consumer contracts to ensure that businesses cannot impose terms that disproportionately favor themselves over consumers;
- right to safety — establishing the consumers' right to safe products, free from defects that could pose risks to their health or safety including the obligation of manufacturers to recall unsafe products from the market and provide remedies to affected consumers;
- right to redress — consumers have the right to seek redress, such as refunds, replacements, or repairs, for products that are defective or not as described; and
- right of withdraw — this right—particularly pertinent in the context of remote and online sales—allows consumers to withdraw from transactions within a specified period—typically 7 days.
These rights apply to a broad spectrum of products and services marketed within the Moroccan market across all industries. In June 2024 the General Secretariat of the Government introduced amendments to the Consumer Protection Law. These introduced several novel measures, including the prohibition of unfair commercial practices, the regulation of price discounts, and the definition of the status of "online platform operator" to enhance e-commerce regulation.
In conjunction with the development of a legal framework for consumer protection, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce regularly assesses its actions to safeguard consumers. The Ministry reviews their consumer protection activities annual considered the following consideration: enhancing legislative provisions, bolstering oversight measures, supporting consumer protection associations, and addressing consumer complaints.
Intersection between consumer protection and competition law
Consumer protection and competition law both seek to promote fairness in the marketplace. Hence, their goals frequently intersect, particularly in today's dynamic commercial environment. Although each regime has its own specific focus, they complement one another in ensuring both individual rights and market integrity.
Consumer protection law safeguards individual rights and ensures fair transactions, while competition law maintains a balanced and efficient market by regulating market behavior and structure. With Law No. 104-12 on Freedom of Prices and Competition Morocco introduced an effective competition law regime in 2020. However, the regime did not become actively enforced until the Competition Council was established in 2022. Since then, we have seen a considerable increase in competition law enforcement in the country. The Moroccan competition law regime addresses anti-competitive practices such as price-fixing, abuse of dominant positions, and merger control, ensuring fair market operations for all economic actors, including consumers.
Although distinct, consumer protection and competition law often converge. Both regimes share concerns such as price transparency, with consumer law ensuring clear pricing for consumers and competition law addressing issues like price-fixing. Similarly, false advertising can both mislead consumers and distort competition, prompting action under both laws. Practices such as abuse of dominance—where dominant firms limit consumer choice or charge excessive prices—highlight another point of overlap.
Furthermore, the digital economy introduces new complexities, where issues like data privacy and market manipulation intersect with both frameworks. This has led to a growing need for regulators to adopt coordinated strategies to address these evolving challenges.
In recent years, Moroccan authorities have demonstrated a growing commitment to consumer welfare as a central objective of competition enforcement. The Competition Council has become increasingly active in investigating market practices and scrutinizing mergers with potential consumer impact. Concurrently, public awareness of consumer rights has surged, and associations are assuming a more assertive role in holding businesses accountable both under competition and consumer protection regulations. This has resulted in an increase of third party intervention by Moroccan consumer protection associations in Morocco.
This trend of increasing enforcement of consumer rights both through the Moroccan consumer protection and the Kingdom's competition law is likely to continue. As Morocco adapts to global market trends, the legislator remains committed to consumer protection to foster sustainable economic and social progress. Hence, businesses active in Morocco or contemplating transactions with relevance to Morocco need to consider the expanding and increasingly overlapping consumer protection and competition law regimes of the Kingdom.
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