Morocco Used Truck Import Guide: 5-Year Cap, Euro 6 and RTI Homologation

Morocco runs the tightest used-vehicle regime in North Africa, and for commercial trucks the door is narrow but real. Under Decree 2-10-421 and the Code de la Route, a used vehicle can only be admitted for homologation if it is less than five years old, a rule the customs administration (ADII) enforces at Casablanca and Tanger Med. Regulatory roundups describe the cap as applying to homologation a titre isole - the individual type-approval route a one-off imported truck must pass before registration. Sources differ on whether the age is counted from the manufacture date or the first registration date, so confirm the counting method with your broker before you pay any deposit.

There is no carve-out for foreign truck buyers. The well-known Moroccan exemptions - a 90 percent duty abatement for Moroccans residing abroad, retirees over 60 allowed up to ten-year-old passenger cars once in a lifetime with six months of ownership - are residency-based and passenger-focused. A Gulf or West African logistics company buying a used tractor for a Moroccan project fleet goes through the general regime: five years or younger, full duties, full homologation.

Duties and taxes: budget roughly 40 to 45 percent over CIF

Commercial vehicles under HS 8704 attract a base import duty commonly quoted around 17.5 percent of CIF value, with market guides for Morocco quoting a 15 to 22.5 percent band depending on the exact HS line and tariff schedule year; passenger cars sit at 27.5 percent. On top comes 20 percent VAT calculated on CIF plus duty, and a small parafiscal import tax (TPI) of 0.25 percent. Total landed cost for a truck therefore lands around 40 to 45 percent over CIF - higher than most West and East African markets. Customs also values the vehicle on an Argus-style assessment of the equivalent new truck rather than your invoice, so under-invoicing will not survive valuation.

The decisive structural point: Morocco has no free trade agreement with China, but it does with the European Union, and EU-origin commercial trucks enter at zero duty under rules of origin. Your competitor at the quay is not another Chinese truck - it is a five-year-old European tractor arriving duty-free. Price and spec accordingly: a young Chinese tractor must beat EU-used premium brands on equipment, warranty and parts promises, not just on sticker price.

Euro 6 pressure and RTI homologation

Emissions are the second filter. Guides for the Moroccan market report that imports must meet Euro 6b since 2026, while commercial diesel is widely cited at a Euro 5 minimum with further tightening during 2026 - treat Euro 5 as the floor and confirm the current step for your exact model year with the broker. Non-Moroccan-spec vehicles must then pass the RTI (reception a titre isole) individual homologation at an RTI technical centre under the NARSA framework, and the file is handled in French. Ship without complete French-language technical documents and the truck waits at the port.

Since 15 January 2025, certificates of conformity for controlled products - a list that touches some auto parts, tires and filters - must be applied for by the Moroccan importer through the Portnet single window; the exporter cannot submit the application on the buyer's behalf. Build this into your delivery timeline. Damaged or accident-repaired vehicles are prohibited outright even if repaired, and the chassis must be intact at inspection.

Route, demand and who this market actually suits

Tanger Med is the main RoRo and container gateway with Casablanca secondary, and temporary admission (D19TER) allows six months before the vehicle must leave. Demand for used trucks exists in municipal and construction fleets, but Morocco is also a vehicle manufacturing power - Renault built about 394,000 vehicles at Tangier and Casablanca in 2025 and exported 82 percent of them - so the domestic market is largely supplied by factories, not by Africa-style used imports. This market suits: low-kilometer 2021-or-newer tractors and specials for logistics companies around the Tangier free zones, government and municipal tenders, and buyers who can wait out the homologation clock.

Before you wire a deposit: confirm the age counting date, get the Euro step of the exact model year in writing, budget 40 to 45 percent over CIF, line up RTI documents in French, and benchmark your offer against duty-free EU-used competition - the FOB price baselines are the starting point. Our payment protection rules (news 87), pre-deposit inspection checklist (news 51) and warranty clauses (news 95) apply in full. For regional context see the Egypt import guide, the other North African market with a hard age line, the global access traffic-light hub, the age-limit comparison table and the steering-side map - Morocco is a left-hand-drive market. SINOTRUK's North Africa push (news 112) and the Gulf three-market hub round out the picture.