Shooting in Morocco - Equipment Import & Regulations

[David A-Ribeiro]

Has anyone had any shoots in Morocco in the last six months / one year with their own gear, imported with Carnet ATA?

 

I am currently in preproduction for a feature and service production has been equal parts vocal AND vague about "many restrictions, new regulations" and sound equipment from international mixers which gets blocked from entering the country. I have obviously provided them from the start with detailed information regarding brand/model/bands and transmitting power of all my wireless gear, but despite an initial ok, just before shipping the equipment they are once more saying they need to double check the list and more new regulations were introduced. 

 

Thankful for any insights and experiences with this topic. 

[Mullet]

Have been there April-May this year with a rather small documentary kit for Public German TV. Recorder, Boom, 4 Wireless & TC. No Issues when entering with a Carnet ATA. I think I needed to give a list of gear to the Service Production in Advance, but customs in Marrakesh had nothing to complain. In general rules there are very strict and authoritarian. You definitely need a fixer who knows which hands to shake. 

[Philip Perkins]

The well-connected local fixer is the thing you cannot do without, whatever gear you are bringing.

[David A-Ribeiro]

On 9/25/2026 at 3:01 PM, Mullet said:

Have been there April-May this year with a rather small documentary kit for Public German TV. Recorder, Boom, 4 Wireless & TC. No Issues when entering with a Carnet ATA. I think I needed to give a list of gear to the Service Production in Advance, but customs in Marrakesh had nothing to complain. In general rules there are very strict and authoritarian. You definitely need a fixer who knows which hands to shake. 

 

Thanks for the feedback. Like I wrote, we do have an experienced service production on the ground, and everything is being processed with a Carnet. However even they do not seem to know how to comply, probably because issues arise randomly. I have filmed in dozens of countries around the globe and am aware of the general circumstances. I'm wondering about the concrete experience people have had in customs and how thorough, if at all, equipment has been inspected. There is always a grey area between regulations and the tolerance that has to necessarily exist towards gear that is not made according to individual countries (let alone to constantly changing regulations). For example, regulations state the availability of bands between 470-694 mhz. How is this interpreted? Is the transmitter/receiver combo with tech specs 470-700 mhz, or 470-1525 mhz allowed or blocked? Is it a matter of operator responsibility? Just speculating here, bottom line is sound mixers can only approximately comply with regulations. Since there are quite a lot of international shoots taking place in Morocco, I thought I'd ask. 

[Mullet]

Our Production Even needed to swap out Service Production / Fixer during the Preproduction and we started weeks later than planned, because our first fixer couldn’t get permissions ready in time. This was not because of carnet, but because everything (Location, Person,…) needs to be checked and agreed by the government. The carnet itself was not a problem, customs there know very well how to handle that. Drone would be complicated, it’s basically not allowed to bring one without a special permission. Rest of the gear was fine and I cannot imagine they’re arguing about band’s & frequencies, as I brought also a Theos System. I could try to reach out to our German speaking contact, he could maybe answer some questions more precisely. In general, everything worked out, but it’s not an easy Country to work in.