The Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture has officially authorized the registration of seven new Israeli-developed tomato varieties within the national registry of cultivable plant species, part of a broader update that included dozens of foreign-origin crops.
The decision, formalized in Ministerial Decree No. 1467.25 and published in the Bulletin Officiel on June 26, has drawn scrutiny due to the involvement of companies based in Israeli settlements and long-standing sensitivities around normalization.
According to documentation reviewed by Hespress, the new registrations cover seven tomato varieties classified as “indeterminate growth” typically used in greenhouse agriculture, developed by three Israeli firms.
Their cultivars are now legally authorized for planting and marketing in Moroccan territory.
Responding to the revelations, a senior official from the Ministry of Agriculture told Hespress, via ONSSA, that all plant varieties must undergo a rigorous evaluation process, including year-long greenhouse trials, phytosanitary controls, and verification of distinctiveness, uniformity, and stability, before being approved.
As of 2025, Morocco has registered over 8,356 cultivars, including 869 tomato types, many sourced from global seed developers.
The registration does not imply direct importation by Israeli entities. Rather, Moroccan distributors operating under domestic law submit seed registration requests, often importing parent genetic material to adapt high-yield hybrid cultivars to local agro-climatic conditions.
“This reflects Morocco’s openness to agricultural innovation and seed development,” the official said, noting that Israeli-origin varieties were among many approved alongside seeds from Spain, Turkey, India, and the Netherlands
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