After news about Morocco’s desire to import 100,000 heads of Australian sheep annually to compensate for the severe livestock shortage due to drought, Australians announced that no heads have been exported so far after a year of this news.
The CEO of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, Mark Harvey-Sutton, revealed that the lack of any actual trade deal is primarily due to the long distance between the two countries and the high costs of maritime transport, adding: “There was significant interest from the Moroccan side, but the journey is very long and costly.”
He pointed out that Morocco imports livestock from other countries such as Spain, South American countries, and Georgia, and that Australia’s main advantage lies in its excellent health status (disease-free), but this has not been sufficient to conclude actual agreements thus far.
