"It turns out that the tomatoes are from Dakhla in occupied Western Sahara, so we are not going to sell them anymore. These things are not supposed to happen", stated media officer Ingmar Kroon at the Swedish grocery chain Axfood.
It was the Swedish magazine 'Västsahara¨which in April this year discovered cherry tomatoes from the firm Azura in a shop in Gothenburg. The shop belonged to the grocery chain Axfood, with 225 shops in Sweden.
Azura is a French-Moroccan business producing vegetables in Agadir and in the the occupied town of Dakhla in southern parts of Western Sahara.
"I know the Western Sahara issue well. Of course we should not sell products from an occupied territory", said Axfood's media officer Ingmar Kroon to the Swedish magazine.
When Axfood carried out its first control, they were told that the tomatoes were from "Southern Morocco", but when looking further into the issue, they discovered they were from Dakhla. Azura stated to Axfood that EU's agreement with Morocco also covers Western Sahara.
"But we are not of that opinion", stated Mr. Kroon.
In 2009, Azura tomatoes were discovered also in the shops of Coop in Norway and Sweden. Coop Norway then promised to halt all furthher imports. Coop Sweden announced that their tomatoes, on the other hand, only came from Agadir - not Dakhla.
8000 people work in the Azura's giant green houses in Dakhla, most of all producing tomatoes and melons for exports.
As EU ambassadors give their green light to a new Morocco trade deal, the public is still denied access to the very agreement they are voting on - a striking case of secrecy in Brussels.
A wave of reactions is rippling across Europe following the news that the EU is moving ahead with a new trade agreement in occupied Western Sahara. The vote is scheduled for tomorrow.
WSRW can today reveal a leaked EU document showing plans to continue trading with products from occupied Western Sahara, in direct violation of earlier rulings by the EU Court of Justice. A vote will take place this Wednesday.
Water pouring out of Moroccan faucets is soon powered by energy stolen from occupied Western Sahara.