Products from Western Sahara imported by EU countries

18.4.2019

Question for written answer E-002096-19
to the Commission
Rule 130
Jytte Guteland (S&D) , Josef Weidenholzer (S&D) , Bodil Valero (Verts/ALE) , Ana Miranda (Verts/ALE) , Miguel Urbán Crespo (GUE/NGL) , Ivan Štefanec (PPE) , Fabio Massimo Castaldo (EFDD) , Ana Gomes (S&D) , Norbert Neuser (S&D) , Paloma López Bermejo (GUE/NGL) , Eugen Freund (S&D) , José Inácio Faria (PPE) , Ivo Vajgl (ALDE) , Aleksander Gabelic (S&D)

The EU guidelines to the national customs authorities on how to implement CJEU judgment C104/16 P, distinguishing Western Sahara from Morocco, state that in the event of reasonable doubt regarding the origin of goods, Title VI of Protocol 4 to the EU-Morocco Association Agreement applies. This directs the customs authority of the importing Member State to request verification from the competent Moroccan authorities.

The resolution adopted by Parliament on 16 January 2019[1] extending the EU-Morocco Liberalisation Agreement to Western Sahara clearly states that ‘a key criterion for Parliament before giving its consent to the agreement is to ensure that a mechanism will be put in place for Member States’ customs authorities to have access to reliable information on products originating in Western Sahara and imported into the EU, in full compliance with EU customs legislation.

Given this background, what has the Commission done so far in order to ensure that Member States’ customs authorities can distinguish products imported from Morocco from those imported from the territory of Western Sahara?

• [1] Texts adopted, P8_TA(2019)0016.