The Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy organises, from 13 to 17 November 2017, the 21st edition of the National Quality Week under the banner: «Which quality infrastructure to support the Industrial Acceleration Plan? ».

This 20th anniversary is an opportunity to measure the progress made in implementing quality infrastructure and revive the reflection on the potential areas of improvement to support the industrial ambition of the Kingdom.

Furthermore, this edition aims to emphasize the role of quality in the deployment of industrial ecosystems, through standardization, certification, accreditation, metrology and market monitoring.

Speaking at the launching seminar, Mr. Elalamy stressed that "establishing a quality infrastructure complying with international standards is the corner stone of the industrial acceleration initiated in the Kingdom. It will strengthen Morocco’s international integration while guaranteeing the protection of national industry against unfair competition”.

Considerable efforts have been made throughout the years to guarantee a quality friendly environment through the strengthening of the Moroccan normative framework, which currently consolidates 14,500 norms, and the development of a certification and accreditation system for conformity assessment bodies aligned with international standards.

The production of standards is accompanied by outreach actions aimed at economic operators and consumers in order to raise awareness about the importance of their enforcement. The latest example illustrating this approach is the "Salamatouna" label, designed to reinforce action against counterfeit automobile spare parts.

In this vein, an overhaul of the control system for the import of industrial products was carried out in may 2016 to address the shortcomings the system was experiencing. It has led to the adoption of a new modern and effective control device that guarantees transparency and traceability for import activities.

Pour appuyer davantage les avancées réalisées, une panoplie d’actions sera entreprise pour soutenir la dynamique de développement industrielle en marche dans le Royaume. En effet, les entreprises qui se conforment aux exigences qualité seront favorisées lors de l’attribution des marchés publics.

To further support the progress achieved, a whole range of measures will be implemented to give greater impetus to the Kingdom’s on-going industrial development. As a matter of fact, companies complying with quality requirements will be favoured in the allocation of public contracts. Furthermore, the Metre convention will be signed to ensure international recognition for calibration and measurement certificates issued by the Moroccan National Metrology Laboratory.

One of the highlights of the day was the handing out of the National Quality Award and the National Award for Safety at Work for companies who showed outstanding quality and safety approaches..

These awards aim at encouraging more companies to put quality and safety at work at the core of their development strategies and inspire them to approach their competitiveness through a modern management perspective.

Mr Elalamy, Mr Amin Bay, General Manager of Poste Maroc Group and Mr Ahmed Bouhaouli, President of the Moroccan Union for Quality (UMAQ) subsequently signed the envelope for the first day of issue of the postage stamp marking the 20th anniversary of the National Quality Week.

The National Quality Week will run across various regions of the Kingdom. Seminars and meetings will be organized by the delegations of the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and the Digital Economy, in collaboration with local partners.