Answer given by Mr Çioloş on behalf of the Commission

29.8.2012

According to the United Nations position on the subject, which the EU adheres to, Western Sahara is considered a ‘non-self-governing territory’ and the Kingdom of Morocco its de facto administering power.

To the extent that exports of products from Western Sahara are de facto benefitting from the trade preferences, activities related to natural resources undertaken by an administering power in a non-self-governing territory are lawful as long as they are not undertaken in disregard of the needs, interests and benefits of the people of that territory.

The de facto administration of Morocco in Western Sahara is obliged to comply with these principles of international law. The same applies to the new Agreement on the liberalisation of trade on agriculture and fisheries products which will enter into force as from 1 October 2012. In this context, the Moroccan authorities have already agreed to provide information on all relevant areas of the implementation of this Agreement. This would also cover information on the benefits of this Agreement for the local population including in the Western Sahara territory.

Concerning the issue of origin labelling, it must be borne in mind that neither the Association Agreement nor the new Agreement on the liberalisation of trade on agriculture and fisheries products foresee any specific rules regarding requirements as to the labelling of products. As a result, the EU de facto grants Western Sahara products the benefit of preferential tariffs if they are not differentiated from products originating in Morocco, otherwise they would be subject to the full Most Favoured Nation tariffs.

OJ C 183 E, 28/06/2013