Imported dates are subject to regular checks, said Thursday in Rabat, Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament, government spokesman, Mustapha Baitas.
Like other food products, imported dates are subject to regular checks in three stages, said Mr. Baitas during a press briefing following the Government Council.
The first step, he explained, concerns the control of the documents attached to the imported dates, while the second concerns the control of the conformity of the dates with the certificates and attestations attached to verify that they meet the requirements of the texts and applicable laws.
The third step is to take representative samples of the dates and perform laboratory analysis, he added.
The control services under the National Food Safety Office (ONSSA) have controlled until March 22 a total of 35,769 tons of imported dates and prohibited access to 424 tons to the national market, said Mr. Baitas.
ONSSA services also took samples of dates at warehouse and point of sale levels to verify their compliance with food safety standards, he said, adding that the analyzes showed that the samples taken, so far, comply with health safety standards.
