German and Irish law organisations demand that Messe Berlin ceases to accept the controversial French tomato producer Azura.
The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), based in Ireland, and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) released on, 6 September 2019, an open letter to Messe Berlin GmbH, the organiser of the leading Fruit Logistica trade show, and its Ombudsperson.
The letter addresses allegations of illegal conduct by one of the show’s exhibitors and Messe’s responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in relation to their hosting of this business.
The French company ‘Azura Group’ exports tomatoes from occupied Western Sahara to Europe.
GLAN and ECCHR write in a release that Messe Berlin had responded poorly to a request earlier this year to make the fair stop promoting Azura, and that the two groups therefore proceeded to publish the correspondence.
The following overview enlists stock-exchange registered companies with current or recent operations in occupied Western Sahara. Updated 7 May 2025.
The French company - which claims to excel at understanding of regulations - seemingly fails to know in which country it is supporting businesses.
The Finnish company Wärtsilä refers to Western Sahara as part of Morocco and cites the positions of “certain countries” to justify its operations in the occupied territory.
The German multinational - which supplies the Moroccan energy projects in the occupied territory - fails to grasp EU court rulings.