Consumer protection law: federation presses new government to update Law 31.08

The Moroccan Federation for Consumer Rights has placed the revision of Law 31.08 on consumer protection among its top priorities. The federation argues the text no longer keeps pace with the shift towards e-commerce and needs stronger institutional and legal tools to protect citizens’ purchasing power.

The federation said it is waiting for members of the new government to fully take up their duties before putting the file back on the table. It noted that the government programme lists improving purchasing power among its pillars, an aim it sees as directly tied to safeguarding consumer rights.

Previous draft judged insufficient

Federation president Bouazza al-Kharati said the amendments proposed by the previous government, through what was then the Ministry of Trade and Industry, fell short, particularly on online commerce. In his view, the draft failed to reflect how fast the sector is changing, from the spread of social media platforms to the use of artificial intelligence in commercial transactions.

Al-Kharati said a federation delegation had raised these concerns with former minister Riad Mezzar, who has since been reappointed to head the ministry in its new configuration. According to Al-Kharati, the minister regretted at the time that the draft had not reached its final approval stages. The federation, for its part, insisted the bill should not pass in its current form without being updated, or at least without implementing provisions that allow it to adapt to present and future developments.

Role for the Competition Council

Al-Kharati also said discussions between the industry and trade minister and Ahmed Rahhou, former president of the Competition Council, concerned bringing consumer protection within the council’s remit by amending Law 104.12 on freedom of prices and competition. He argued that combining the two fields would give the institutions a more coherent approach to protecting consumers and ensuring fair competition.

He linked this approach to international calls, including United Nations guidelines, for closer coordination between the two areas. Competition, he explained, protects consumers once goods and services are already circulating, while consumer protection mechanisms act earlier to secure their rights and safety.

Independent oversight body

Alongside the legal reform, the federation is calling for an overhaul of the inspection system through an independent national body bringing together the various institutions and services responsible for market control. Al-Kharati said assigning the same authority to support, develop and supervise manufacturers while also inspecting them creates overlapping roles and conflicting missions.

The revision of Law 31.08, he stressed, should go beyond piecemeal changes and take account of the technological and commercial changes seen in Morocco and worldwide. Several provisions of the law, he added, are still not properly applied in some courts, and some judges and lawyers remain unfamiliar with parts of it.

Al-Kharati called for e-commerce to take a substantial share of the amendment, possibly up to a third of its provisions, given the growing weight of online transactions in the current economy.

The federation said it was optimistic about the new government’s direction, given its stated priority of improving living conditions and purchasing power. Turning those goals into concrete measures, it said, will require effective and independent institutions and an updated legal framework that follows market developments and strengthens trust in commercial transactions.