RABAT, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and the United States have agreed to allow commercial imports of U.S. poultry meat and products into the country for the first time, local media reported on Wednesday.

The deal came after Morocco banned the imports of U.S. poultry products over food safety concerns since a long time ago.

Citing a statement from the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Le360.ma news site said the deal stipulates that the U.S. imports must have health and Islamic Halal certificates.

The deal covers frozen poultry products and will permit shipments of a maximum of 8,958 tonnes in 2018, the same source said, adding that the imports are expected to account for 1.3 percent of Morocco's poultry product consumption.

The new accord is in line with a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries that went into force in 2006, it noted.

The United States is the world's second largest poultry exporter of poultry meat and products after Brazil, with global sales of 4.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.