Several sources in the EU have confirmed to Western Sahara Resource Watch that the EU-Moroccan trade agreement entered into force on 1st of October 2012.
The agreement covers trade in agricultural and fisheries products. It was supposed to enter into force already in July, but was postponed due to slow ratification process by Morocco. Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) wrote about the dangers of the agreement in the report Label and Liability earlier this year.
The entering into force coincides now with the agricultural season in occupied Western Sahara.
EU Parliament to hold Western Sahara debates at committee level?
The European Parliament has expressed itself in favour of holding debates in three parliament committees about the exclusion of Western Sahara from EU-Morocco trade agreements.
EU Commission backtracks on labelling Western Sahara goods
What is EU's position on labelling of products from occupied Western Sahara? The EU Commission has now for the third time published a response to a parliamentary question on the matter, but the latest version fails to address the question.
Why does this EU statement keep disappearing?
A clarification by the EU Commission on labelling of products from Western Sahara was published, then removed, then published again and has now been removed again from EU websites.
EU reaffirms: Western Sahara products to be labelled as such
Two weeks ago, the EU Commission announced that products from Western Sahara should be labelled accordingly, only to withdraw that statement the very next day. Today, the Commission reaffirms its original position.