The lawsuit against Idyl has been filed at the Commercial Court of Tarascon. The plaintiffs claim that Idyl imports produce from Western Sahara under EU trade preferences accorded to Morocco through the EU-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on 1 October 2012. But Western Sahara is not Morocco.

In a statement [or download], the Confédération Paysanne “denounces an unfair and illegal competition for French and European farmers. While the debate on the cost of labour and the need to improve self-sufficiency are at the heart of the news, it is incomprehensible that the French government and the European Union agreed to accept such an agreement”.

The organisation considers the agreement a threat to Europe’s food sovereignty as it accelerates the disappearance of farmers in the Union. They claim they cannot compete with the costs and production conditions in Morocco.

Western Sahara Resource Watch has documented the imports of illegally grown produce on occupied land into the European market, in its report ‘Label and Liability’ published in June 2012. The report made a reference to Idyl as one of the labels that sell tomatoes grown in occupied Western Sahara.