A Luxembourg government fund has excluded six companies from its portfolios due to "association to illegal exploitation of natural resources (Western Sahara)".
On 15 November 2014, the Fonds de Compensation commun au régime général de pension (FDC), published the list of 61 companies that it has decided to blacklist. No less than six of those companies have been rejected because they purchase phosphate from Moroccan occupied Western Sahara.
FDC has divested from Canada's Agrium Inc and Potash Corp Sasketchewan, Australian firms Wesfarmers and Incitec Pivot Ltd and USA firms Innophos Holdings and FMC Corporation, citing their "association to illegal exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara".
All six companies had been listed by WSRW in its June 2014 "P for Plunder" report, which gives a complete overview of all clients, volumes, values and shipments of illegally excavated phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara for the years 2012-2013.
The file from FDC can also be downloaded here.
In a hearing at the European Parliament earlier this week, lawmakers expressed outrage at how the Commission sidestepped them to push through a new agreement covering occupied Western Sahara, in violation of EU Court rulings.
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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.