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On January 14, two Swedish MEPs had asked in a written question whether the Commission planned to label products originating from Western Sahara and Northern Cyprus.
Charlie Andreas Weimers and Jessica Stegrud recalled that on November 12, 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that products originating from Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories must be labelled as such.
«Based on this decision, is the Commission planning to impose the same thing on products originating from occupied territories such as Northern Cyprus and Western Sahara?», they asked.
On Wednesday, February 5, the European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski answered. He stressed that «all imported products, including those originating from the Western Sahara, need to comply with the relevant legislation, including the requirement to provide accurate and not misleading information on the country of origin or provenance of those products, which in such case must thus be ‘Western Sahara’».
Pending a court decision
«Morocco is one of the third countries where the conformity checks have been approved by the Commission», Janusz Wojciechowski wrote.
«The Moroccan authorities are responsible for carrying out checks on conformity to marketing standards of fresh fruit and vegetables under their supervision and those authorities are responsible for contacts with the Union».
Janusz Wojciechowski
The Commissioner explained then that labelling products originating from Western Sahara «is currently subject to proceedings before the General Court», adding that it is «pending the judgement» of teh European Court of Justice.
For the record, the Polisario has indeed filed another appeal before the same court against the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 of the association agreement between Morocco and the EU.
