Morocco and Mexico sign two cooperation agreements

Visiting King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Mexican President Vicente Fox chaired, in Mexico Wednesday, the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding providing for the creation of a consultation mechanism and a cooperation and a agricultural cooperation accord.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries' foreign ministers seeks to consolidate Morocco-Mexico relationships on the basis of "mutual respect and entente."

For Mexican foreign minister, Luis Ernesto Derbez, through the MoU, Mexico considers Morocco as a "leader in the Arab world" and will be able to better understand the Arab world vision and adopt concrete support stances to world issues.

The two countries undertake to hold periodical consultations to review their bilateral relations, prospect new fields of cooperation and exchange viewpoints on regional and international topics.

Under the agreement, these talks will be held alternately in Mexico and Morocco and, eventually, during the annual sessions of the United Nations general assembly as well as in parallel to international conferences.

The agricultural cooperation agreement was signed by Morocco's minister of agriculture, rural development and sea fisheries, Mohand Laenser, and Mexico's minister of agriculture, husbandry, rural development, fisheries and food.

It is related to the introduction and exportation of animals, products and by-products of animal origin in accordance with the sanitary laws in force in the two countries.

The two countries undertake to cooperate in exchanging sanitary certificates of animals and animal-derived products and in the prevention, surveillance and control of diseases, exchange animal health specialists and initiate collaboration between laboratories.

Morocco and Mexico also agreed to guarantee that animal-derived products exported to each other are free of hormones, drugs, pesticides, toxins and any other substance harmful to human and animal health. In this regard, they will swap information on manufacturing and processing methods of products of animal origin.

The two agreements were signed during the state visit paid by the sovereign to Mexico, first leg of a Latin American tour that includes Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina.