Statement from the General Rapporteur of the Competition Council regarding unexpected inspection and seizure operations carried out in the premises of certain operators active in the market for the marketing of medical devices.

Rabat, February 20, 2026 – The instruction and investigation services of the Competition Council carried out, on February 17, 2026, unexpected and simultaneous inspection and seizure operations with entities operating in the market for the marketing of medical devices based on suspicions of anticompetitive practices in said market.

These inspection and seizure operations were carried out with the authorization of the Public Prosecutor, and with the assistance of judicial police officers from the National Judicial Police Brigade, designated for this purpose, in accordance with the provisions of Article 72 of Law No. 104-12 on price freedom and competition, as amended and supplemented.

It should be noted that at this stage, the unexpected inspection and seizure operations carried out do not prejudge the existence or non-existence of the alleged practices or the guilt of the entities concerned. Indeed, only the deliberative bodies of the Competition Council can, after a thorough adversarial investigation respecting the defense rights of the parties concerned, rule on the validity of the practices if the elements of the investigation and the investigation establish their existence.

For reasons related to the preservation of the defense rights of the visited entities, the Competition Council will not, for the time being, make any comments on their identities or on the practices that are the subject of the inspection and seizure operations.

As a reminder and in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of Law No. 20-13 on the Competition Council, as amended and supplemented, the latter has instruction and investigation services that carry out the necessary investigations and inquiries for the application of the law on price freedom and competition regarding anticompetitive practices and the control of economic concentration operations.

In this context, the unexpected inspection and seizure operations regulated by the aforementioned Article 72 constitute an investigative tool that allows for the collection of « in situ » evidence and information necessary for the investigation of files related to anticompetitive practices or the failure to notify economic concentration operations to the Competition Council (Gun jumping).