250 agents have undertaken 110,000 investigations and 8,000 prosecutions per year has decreased petty fraud among traders. Ramadan is considered the peak season for the inspectors who travel rural markets and cities to check that the milk, honey, dates, butter and spices are what the traders claim they are and that customers are not being conned.
Casablanca, alone has 8 brigades of inspectors, each with three people who patrol in two shifts – the first from 9 to 5 and the second after the break of the fast from 10 to 12. The inspectors are usually trained as engineers or graduates from the food technician schools of the ministry of agriculture. Many have received supplementary training in Belgium, Germany and France.
Azzeddine Oussmoui, head of the Casablanca anti-fraud unit says that inspectors take food samples if the suspect something is awry.
This service was first established 72 years ago according to the Moroccan ministry of agriculture. (albawaba.com)
