House of Representatives Adopts by Majority of Votes Six Government Bills on Trade and Health

The House of Representatives adopted on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, six Government bills related to trade and the health sector. The adoption took place during a legislative sitting chaired by Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, Speaker of the House, in the presence of Mr. Khalid Aït Taleb, Minister of Health and Social Protection, and Mr. Mustapha Baïtas, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of relations with Parliament and Government Spokesperson.

During the said sitting, the Representatives adopted by a majority of votes Government bill 69.21 amending Law N°15.95 operating as Code of Commerce and enacting special provisions relating to payment deadlines, as ratified by the House of Councilors on February 7, 2023, in a second reading.

This law intends to fill the gap caused by the absence of a legal framework regulating payment deadlines in the commercial deadline, particularly the emergence of the problem of payment deadlines between private enterprises, which impacts the treasury of the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and threatens their competitive power.

This new legal text aims to impose unified practices concerning the conditions of sale through the enactment of special provisions relating to payment deadlines in commercial dealings to consolidate the achievements and develop new areas of progress concerning payment deadlines. The text also stipulates concrete measures to address the problem of late payment, which is a major component in the plan for economic takeoff and a lever for improving the business climate and raising the country's position in the ranking of international indices.

During the same sitting, the House of Representatives adopted several Government bills relating to the health sector. In this context, the Representatives adopted by a majority of votes Government Bill 11.22 on creating the Moroccan Blood Agency. Under this law, the Agency will be subject to the supervision of the State. It will have as its objective to contribute to developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the national blood policy. The Agency will also be entrusted with blood collection from donors, its biological qualification, and the realization of all operations related to its conservation, transfer, and packaging.

However, Agency will have to face several challenges, including the lack of a culture of blood donation due to insufficient awareness of this operation and the fear of citizens of making blood donations because of some traditions.

The Representatives also adopted by a majority of votes Government Bill 10.22 on creating the Moroccan Agency for Medicines and Health Products, which is of particular importance as it is one of the pillars and essential levers in the health sector.

In this regard, the Moroccan Agency for Medicines and Health Products will be in charge of putting into practice the strategic orientations of the State's policy aimed at guaranteeing pharmaceutical sovereignty, the availability of medicines and health products, and ensuring their quality. The Agency will also assume the mission of monitoring compliance with legislative and organic provisions relating to toxic substances, particularly drugs and psychoactive substances, as well as contributing to the development of the drugs and health products industry, including the local manufacturing of generic and biosimilar medicines.

During the same sitting, the Representatives passed by a majority of votes Government Bill 60.22 on the compulsory health insurance scheme for people who can pay the contribution fees and are not engaged in any paid or unpaid professional activity.

The adopted Bill determines the category entitled to benefit from this scheme and enacts the adoption of a system of targeting beneficiaries of support programs as mechanisms to prove the ability to pay contributions, in addition to entrusting the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) with the mission of managing this scheme and setting the procedure to benefit from it. The Bill also establishes the effectiveness of the registration of the beneficiaries and the determination of the duration of training to benefit from the coverage of treatment costs.

Similarly, the Representatives passed by a majority of votes Government Bill 08.22 on the creation of territorial health groups. According to this law, the territorial health groups will be in charge of several missions, including health care, public health, training, research, expertise, innovation, and administrative matters.

The principle of regionalization was taken into consideration in the creation of these territorial health groups. At the same time, a specific budget shall be allocated to each group as they shall constitute an essential entry point for achieving a health offer that meets citizens' expectations and guarantees governance in the distribution of health care.

This law will represent an important step in achieving spatial justice throughout the Kingdom and a qualitative leap by defining an institutional framework to manage the healthcare system at the territorial and regional levels.

During the same session, the Representatives ratified by a majority of votes Government Bill 90.22 on the practice of health professions. This Bill aims to strengthen the guarantees of legal protection and to anchor mandatory participation in continuous training sessions and programs.

This Bill also aims, among other things, to establish a system allowing the exercise of certain functions in the private sector, to adopt a new contractual employment regime leading to tenure and a new remuneration regime for health professionals, to establish their working hours and statutes, and to guarantee them broad mobility.