ONSSA Sanitary Authorisation and Approval in Morocco: Complete Guide

What are ONSSA sanitary authorisation and approval?

Two forms of the same legal obligation. Article 5 of Law 28-07 on the safety of food products requires food and animal feed establishments and businesses to be authorised or approved on sanitary grounds “before they start operating”. Without that title, a site cannot legally produce, pack or ship food.

The authority is ONSSA (Office National de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires), Morocco’s national food safety office. ONSSA publishes these texts in French, and two terms recur in every Moroccan file an investor or importer will read:

• sanitary approval, in French agrément sur le plan sanitaire, usually shortened to agrément;
• sanitary authorisation, in French autorisation sur le plan sanitaire, usually shortened to autorisation.

The law provides a single exception: establishments whose entire production goes directly to the final consumer for their own consumption. Their operators remain responsible for the safety of what they sell. Decree 2-10-473 also refers producers who supply small quantities directly to the consumer or to local retail to specific regulations.

ONSSA’s procedure code CP 05/DCPV/14 gives both definitions:

• sanitary approval certifies that the establishment meets the regulatory hygiene conditions and has an own-check system based on HACCP or on an equivalent system;
• sanitary authorisation certifies that the establishment applies the good sanitary practice guide validated by ONSSA for its activity.

The same document states the purpose: to make sure operators’ own-check systems are reliable and to reduce the testing inspectors carry out during official controls. In other words, ONSSA first checks your system, then relies on it. For anyone buying a plant, investing in one or sourcing from one, the practical consequence is simple: the approval or authorisation number is the first document to ask for, and it only covers the activities named on it.

All of these texts except the last are published on ONSSA’s page on food establishments or in its regulations section; the 2025 order is published on Adala, the Ministry of Justice’s legal portal. We read them in those published versions, consulted in November 2026.

Approval or authorisation: which activity falls under which regime?

Article 4 of the decree is simple: establishments whose activities fall within the categories of its annex require approval; all others require authorisation. The table sets the decree’s annex against the list of activity codes in Joint Order 2768-12, which names the activities subject to authorisation.

Three lessons for a manufacturer or an investor.

The process decides, not the product name. Olive oil appears among “oils from oil-bearing fruit”, subject to authorisation, whereas seed oils require approval. Olives in brine fall under preservation without heat treatment; the same olives sterilised in jars become a heat-treated vegetable preserve. A new line can therefore move a site into the other regime.

The two lists do not overlap completely. In its version amended in 2015, Joint Order 2768-12 assigns approval codes to plant-based activities that the decree’s annex does not name expressly: packing of dried or dehydrated fruit and vegetables, frozen or deep-frozen plant products, chilled plant-based preparations, food supplements. For these activities, have the provincial ONSSA office confirm the regime before filing the application.

One site can hold both regimes. An establishment that packs fresh vegetables and makes a heat-treated sauce declares several activities on the same form. Describe every real activity, line by line, and ask the provincial service before filing if any doubt remains. In an acquisition, the same reading applies in reverse: compare the activities named on the target plant’s title with what the plant actually does, and with what you plan to add.

Who issues the approval, and where is the application filed?

ONSSA in most cases, but not always. Article 5 of the decree divides responsibilities:

• the Director General of ONSSA, or the person he delegates, for primary products, food products and animal feed;
• the authority responsible for sea fisheries, for establishments handling products of sea fishing and marine aquaculture, including fish oils and fishmeal; ONSSA then gives its sanitary opinion during the visit (Article 9);
• the municipal authority responsible for hygiene, for retail sale and mass catering.

For a food establishment, the application is filed with the local ONSSA service where the site is located. CP 05 specifies which one: the veterinary service for animal products, products of animal origin and animal feed; the plant products control service for plant products and products of plant origin. Its annexes give contact details by region and by province.

For fishery products, Order 244-13 provides for filing in three copies with the Directorate of Sea Fishing Industries or the sea fisheries delegation, which forwards one copy to ONSSA. Have this route confirmed by the sea fisheries delegation or the provincial ONSSA office before filing. Our seafood and canning page covers the requirements specific to that sector.

What are the steps and deadlines of the procedure?

Seven steps, three of which have a regulatory deadline. The file has an administrative part and a technical part; only a complete application that follows the official template is admissible (Decree, Article 6).

The visit checks location, design, layout, installations, equipment, materials and intended operation. The report, drawn up on the template in Order 244-13, covers nine headings, from location to traceability documents, including the good practice guide or the HACCP system. Our ONSSA approval application file checklist goes through them one by one.

The sanitary number has four groups separated by a dot (Decree, Article 13): the activity code in Latin letters, the prefecture or province code (for example 17 for Errachidia, 25 for Agadir Ida Ou Tanane, 52 for Safi), the number of the application receipt, and the last two digits of the year of issue. It must appear on documents, correspondence, advertising and packaging, in line with labelling rules. For an importer, this is the number to look for on the supplier’s cartons and on the lists ONSSA publishes.

What happens once approval is granted?

The site enters a surveillance regime. Approval does not wear out with time: it is lost when the conditions that justified it are no longer met.

Regular sanitary inspections. They follow a pre-established plan and may be scheduled or unannounced (Decree, Article 16; CP 05, point 4). The operator must give access to all premises and present the documents requested (Article 21). Each visit gives rise to a report (Article 23) and is entered in the register of visits the operator keeps on the template in Order 1063-15. Since Order 2010-25 of 5 August 2025, published in the Official Bulletin in January 2026, these visits can be entrusted to public or private bodies approved by ONSSA; our article on ONSSA approval in 2026-2027 explains what that changes.

Suspension and withdrawal. A non-conformity found during a visit can lead to suspension, with a compliance period that cannot exceed six months; the decision is notified within ten working days of the visit (Order 244-13, Article 7). If the problem is not corrected in time, the approval is withdrawn. A danger to life or health leads to immediate withdrawal, and the authority can order all or part of the site to close (Decree, Article 18). CP 05 also provides for suspension when activity stops for more than six months, except for seasonal activities. After a withdrawal, a new application must be filed.

No written expiry date. The texts we have read set no period of validity for an establishment’s approval or authorisation; CP 05 speaks of maintenance as long as the conditions remain met. Do not confuse this with the five-year approval in Order 2010-25: it concerns the bodies to which visits are delegated, not food plants. The renewable five-year term set by Order No. 2010-25 of 5 August 2025 (Official Bulletin No. 7471, 5 January 2026) applies to the approval of the bodies to which ONSSA delegates regular sanitary inspections, not to establishments.

Ongoing obligations. Keep own-check records for at least five years (Law, Article 9); inform ONSSA without delay of any product that may not be safe, with the information listed in Article 76 of the decree; maintain traceability and a withdrawal and recall procedure (Article 75); follow a cleaning and disinfection plan recorded every day and presented during visits (Article 68); provide, at your own expense, medical surveillance of staff (Article 65).

The stakes are real. Article 25 of the law provides for two to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of MAD 50,000 to 100,000, or one of these penalties, for placing on the market or exporting products from an establishment without approval or authorisation, or whose title has been suspended or withdrawn.

How does approval relate to the HACCP plan, certification and export?

Approval is the regulatory base on which the HACCP plan, certification and market access are built. It replaces none of them.

HACCP. For approval, the decree requires an own-check programme that complies with Moroccan standard NM 08.0.002, HACCP management system, any standard that replaces it, or an equivalent system (Articles 34 and 41). For authorisation, the file includes a procedures manual based on the good sanitary practice guide for the activity; where no guide exists, the manual relies on Articles 32 and 33 of the decree, identifies and reduces risks and organises traceability. In its regulations section, ONSSA publishes the orders approving twelve guides, issued from 2015 to 2021, covering among others fresh fruit, market-garden vegetables, fresh and frozen red fruit, virgin olive oils, semi-preserved olives and capers, spices, aromatic plants, food-grade salt, industrial milling and cured meats. The HACCP method itself is covered on our HACCP plan and ONSSA approval page and in our HACCP plan guide for Morocco.

Certification. BRCGS, IFS and FSSC 22000 are commercial requirements set by buyers. They come on top of approval, and their auditors check that the site complies with the law of its country. Our article on which food safety certification to choose for export helps you pick the standard.

Export. Article 52 of the decree subjects exported products to its provisions, unless the importing country or a bilateral agreement provides otherwise. For plant products, ONSSA’s export control procedure requires, among other documents, a copy of the establishment’s sanitary approval or authorisation, test reports from ONSSA laboratories or laboratories it approves, label specimens and the requirements of the destination country; the control is documentary, identity, physical and analytical.

For products of animal origin, including fishery products, the European Union adds a condition: the establishment must appear on a list proposed by the exporting country and kept by the Commission in TRACES-NT, under Article 127 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2292. The Commission’s page states that the non-EU country’s competent authority guarantees compliance with Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 before proposing an establishment, and is responsible for the accuracy of the lists. The request therefore goes through Morocco’s competent authority, not through the Commission.

Is your establishment ready to file its application?

Run through this list with your management before putting the file together.

• Every activity on the site is matched to a category in the annex to Decree 2-10-473 or to an activity code in Joint Order 2768-12.
  
• The regime chosen, approval or authorisation, has been confirmed with the provincial service where there was any doubt.
  
• The building permit for the premises and proof of address are available.
  
• The plans show the forward flow of products and the circuits for water, waste and staff.
  
• The premises meet Articles 32 and 33 of the decree: washable surfaces, insect protection, toilets with no direct access to production areas, separate storage for packaging and for cleaning products.
  
• The manual is ready: a HACCP own-check programme for approval, procedures based on the good practice guide for authorisation.
  
• The people in charge of HACCP or of the guide are trained, and medical surveillance of staff is organised.
  
• Traceability, the recall procedure and the cleaning plan are written and ready to be recorded.
  
• For export, the destination country’s requirements and, where relevant, listing in TRACES are identified.
  

If several boxes remain empty, our article on ONSSA approval cost and timeline helps you estimate the effort, and our date packing unit case study shows the full route, from the building project to a buyer’s audit.