QUESTIONS AND REPLIES

The following communication, dated 2 June 2025, is being circulated at the request of the delegations of the United Kingdom and Morocco.

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Questions from China

1.1.  Please brief the impact of the implementation of the Agreement Establishing an Association between the United Kingdom and Morocco on bilateral trade.

Replies from the Parties:

Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the UK negotiated Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with a number of countries with whom the EU had FTAs with. These maintained trading relations on the same terms as the EU Agreement. The UK-Morocco Association Agreement replicates the effects of the EU–Morocco agreement, allowing for the continuation of trade flows between our two Kingdoms.

The UK–Morocco Agreement contains certain review clauses, under which both parties can further tailor the Association Agreement to the particularities of our respective economies. The UK-Morocco agriculture tariff review was launched in December 2023, with the ambition of further liberalizing trade in agricultural goods between the UK and Morocco. Negotiations are ongoing.

The UK–Morocco Agreement further contains a services review clause. At this moment the UK and Morocco are both engaged in internal discussions on this matter.

In terms of trade flows, since the implementation of the Association Agreement, bilateral trade between the UK and Morocco has continued to grow. In 2021 trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and Morocco was £2.1 billion, whereas last year (2024) it stood at £4.2 billion. (source UK – Morocco trade factsheet 2 May 2025).

1.2.  What are the main differences between the UK-Morocco Association Agreement and the EU-Morocco Association Agreement? Please list the possible reasons for the differences.

Replies from the Parties:

In keeping with the remainder of the UK’s continuity agreements, the UK-Morocco Association Agreement replicates the effects of the EU-Morocco Agreement as closely as possible, including the establishment of institutional mechanisms between both Kingdoms based on existing structures such as the Association Council.

Many general changes, such as substituting references to the "European Union", the "European Community", the "EU", and "Member States" are applied through a mutatis mutandis approach. This method applied the text of the EU-Morocco Agreement with technical modifications as though the Agreement has originally been concluded between the UK and Morocco.

The second major necessary change from the EU-Morocco Agreement to the UK Agreement is regarding territorial application, that it only applies to the UK and those territories for who’s international relations it is responsible, rather than the EU.

Some provisions have been adapted to reflect the UK’s independent regulatory framework, while others have been retained without modification to ensure continuity. For example, references to adherence to Community standards have been adjusted to align with the UK’s domestic regulatory framework, rather than EU standards.

The remaining differences are technical changes to ensure the smooth functioning of the Agreement in a bilateral context or provide greater clarity regarding rights and obligations. Specific amendments have been detailed in the Annexes to the UK-Morocco Agreement. A full explanation of these differences, along with the reasons for them, has been published by HMG on gov.uk in the report "Continuing the UK's trade relationship with Morocco: parliamentary report".

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