On 21 July, Spanish consumer watchdog organisation, together with Spanish farmers association COAG, filed a formal complaint against the supermarket chain Carrefour’s “fraudulent” marketing of tomatoes from occupied Western Sahara, under the Azura label. WSRW wrote about the matter on 28 July. 

The complaint makes a straight forward argument: the Court of Justice of the European Union has made its position clear. In a binding ruling issued on 4 October 2024, it affirmed that products originating in Western Sahara cannot be labelled as Moroccan when sold on the EU market - they must be labelled as coming from “Western Sahara” and not from “Morocco”. Europe’s highest court has now ruled ten times since 2016 that Western Sahara and Morocco are “separate and distinct” territories.

Western Sahara remains partially under Morocco’s illegal foreign occupation.

Yet Moroccan and international companies operating in the occupied territory, and their international distributors, continue business as usual, ignoring legal rulings. Mislabeling the country of origin on products typically constitutes what is known as “food fraud.” It is such practice that now has been complained about to the Spanish consumer authorities. 

Azura, the company behind the conflict tomatoes which is part of the complaint to the Spanish consumer authorities, informs to be certified under a certificate that is to guarantee against food fraud: 

“Azura’s production is certified by international standards such as …IFS Food”, Azura wrote in its 2024 sustainability report, published in July 2025. 

The problem of erroneous marketing - in combination with the IFS Food label - is perhaps even more serious when it comes to companies involved in the distribution of fisheries products. 

The IFS controversy
The German initiative IFS Food claims on its website to help “companies increase the trustworthiness of their products” and is intended as a safeguard against food fraud, risks in fact enabling deceptive practices. 

When consumers see the IFS label on a product, they should understand that it is no guarantee against misleading origin declaration, in spite of what the IFS label was partially set up to avoid. 

IFS Management GmbH is a German company responsible for developing and maintaining the International Featured Standards (IFS), which are designed to ensure quality, safety, and regulatory compliance across the food, retail, and logistics sectors. These standards are particularly important for companies seeking to meet both customer expectations and legal requirements through certification.

One of its flagship programs, the IFS Food Standard - currently in its latest iteration, Version 8 - focuses on certifying food manufacturers and processors.

When it comes to Western Sahara, IFS Food presents a threefold problem.

• First, there is a risk that IFS Food certificates themselves contain untrue information. Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) presents below an example of a Moroccan company holding an IFS Food certificate where fraudulent country information is actually written directly on the certification document. This raises serious concerns that such misrepresentation may be systemic, for instance whether all IFS Food certificates contain such errors. However, it has been impossible to verify the extent of the issue, as IFS Food has failed to respond to inquiries.
• Secondly, a number of companies openly trading fish products on the EU market in violation of the CJEU ruling of 4 October 2024 on labelling are doing so while displaying the IFS Food logo - despite the fact that the logo is intended to represent a safeguard against food fraud. In this way, the IFS Food brand is indirectly facilitating the sort of practices through its association with these companies. IFS Food has not responded to repeated letters from WSRW asking how it can knowingly allow such practices to continue.
• Thirdly, regardless of the specific wording on the certificates, IFS Food is effectively aiding Moroccan enterprises in exporting products sourced from illegal Moroccan fisheries in occupied Western Sahara, undermining the rights of the Saharawi people. The CJEU has ruled that Western Sahara waters are not Moroccan, and that trade requires consent from the Saharawis.

WSRW wrote to IFS Management GmbH on 29 November 2024 and 13 June 2025 but received no reply.

Addressing food fraud
The IFS Standard, which certified Moroccan businesses are expected to comply with, includes several provisions addressing food fraud. Notably, Paragraph 1.2.5 states:

“The senior management shall maintain a system to ensure that the company is kept informed of all relevant legislation […] and that they are aware of factors that can influence […] food fraud risks.”
“4.20 Food fraud. […] 
4.20.2 A documented food fraud vulnerability assessment, including assessment criteria, shall be documented, implemented and maintained. The scope of the assessment shall cover all raw materials, ingredients, packaging materials and outsourced processes, to determine the risks of fraudulent activity in relation to substitution, mislabelling, adulteration or counterfeiting.“

The requirements outlined in the IFS Food Standard are not being upheld by certified companies. Several Moroccan and Spanish firms (see further down) that claim to comply with the standard are actively engaged in misleading online marketing of its fish products. These violations also appear to be overlooked by the third-party certifying bodies responsible for ensuring that companies operate in accordance with the standard.

IFS Food did not respond to WSRW’s inquiry regarding the measures it has taken to prevent goods from certified factories being marketed in the European market as originating from “Morocco.” It also failed to comment on how it views the reputational risks the IFS Standard may face given that the websites of certified companies, and possibly the IFS certificates themselves, mislead consumers about the true location of the producing companies.

WSRW requested copies of the certificates from IFS Food and all companies referencing IFS Food mentioned in this article, but received no response.

Erroneous certificates and marketing
The amount of money IFS Food has earned by allowing certificates containing false country of origin information to Moroccan and foreign companies operating in the occupied territory remains unknown, partly because the fee to IFS is not known, and partly because IFS Food does not have an open registry of certificates as other standards have. As such, it is impossible to assess the scope of the support it provides to the illegal Moroccan fisheries industry in the territory. 

The only complete IFS Food certificate WSRW has found online, pertaining to the IFS Food standard, is one issued to the Moroccan company Conserveries Rio de Oro SARL by the French certification company Eurofins (see above). 

According to this IFS Food certificate, the Moroccan company is listed as being located in “Morocco,” which is factually incorrect. IFS Food did not respond to whether Eurofins, the certification body, ever informed them that the physical address of the aforementioned establishment was inaccurate. Nor did IFS Food clarify whether it considers the certification body’s failure to account for the United Nations maps an incident of negligence. Eurofins likewise did not respond to WSRW’s letter.

Several Moroccan companies operating in the occupied territory, as well as Moroccan and Spanish distributors of Western Sahara fish products, publicly claim to hold IFS Food certificates. WSRW has been unable to obtain copies of these certificates or verify the accuracy of these claims. This applies to:

• Univela Morocco (which has agents in Dakhla and El Aaiún). See also here [or download].
• Abelta Canning - which has a factory in El Aaiún. See also here.
• Oceamic II in El Aaiún. See also here [or download]
• Spanish octopus distributor Discefa
• Unimer Group, which that receives most of its landings in El Aaiún and Dakhla ports [or download]
• Spanish importing company Merpacífico - which sources products in Western Sahara, including “the Moroccan octopus with its most valued variant: the Dakhla octopus”.
• The Andorran company Congelats del Nord [or download] which writes on its website that it “dedicates itself to the distribution of our quality products that our Octopus, Cuttlefish and Squid in the worlds best known waters – Dakhla, Morocco. Congelats Del Nord – Your Trusted Partner in Premium Cooked Octopus Distribution with its own plant in Dakhla, Morocco. (...) Having our own plant in Dakhla, Morocco means that everything stays “In-House” ensuring full traceability at all times.” Directly underneath, it states that “Certified under international standards complying with the diversity of our target markets. IFS Food certified with state of the art facilities offering our clients complete traceability and peace of mind.”

None of the companies mentioned above responded to WSRW’s letters, making it impossible to determine whether their claims of an IFS Food connection are genuine or fabricated. Congelats del Nord incorrectly referenced a different certification scheme - MSC - on its website and was required to remove this reference after being contacted by MSC in December 2024.

There are even more seriously troubling aspects of IFS Food’s practices, demonstrating that alleged compliance with its standard holds little real significance.

The IFS Standard, version 8, Paragraph 1 “Governance and commitment” notes the following:
1.1.1 “The senior management shall develop, implement and maintain a corporate policy, which shall include, at a minimum: • food safety, product quality, legality and authenticity”. 

The IFS Standard defines Food Authenticity as “The characteristic of a food in relation to its origin (…)" 

IFS did not answer which country’s laws it believes apply to Western Sahara. 

“If IFS believes that the Moroccan government’s regulations, laws, checks or permits are legally valid even in Western Sahara, how does that match with the position of the CJEU which does not regard Morocco as having sovereignty or an administering power capacity over Western Sahara, and as such does not consider Western Sahara to be part of Morocco?”, WSRW asked. It did not respond. 

As a result, the food safety aspect of IFS Food is on shaky ground. 

IFS Food did not respond to inquiries about whether it has criteria to assess the legality of fisheries processing under international law. Nor did it address how it views the Moroccan government’s legal authority to issue fisheries licenses for waters offshore Western Sahara, especially in light of the Court of Justice of the European Union rulings in Joined Cases C‑778/21 P and C‑798/21 P (4 October 2024) and Case C-266/16 (2018, paragraphs 67-69), as well as the fact that the Saharawi people have not given their consent.

The IFS standard paragraph 4.4 Purchasing, states:
4.4.1 ”A procedure for the sourcing of raw materials, semi-finished products and packaging materials and the approval and monitoring of suppliers (internal and external) shall be documented, implemented and maintained. This procedure shall contain, at a minimum:
• raw materials and/or suppliers’ risks
• required performance standards (e.g., certification, origin, etc.)..."
4.4.2 “The purchased materials shall be assessed, based on risks and suppliers’ status, for food safety, product quality, legality and authenticity...."

Among the above-mentioned companies, all claiming IFS certification, some are based in Morocco proper. These source raw materials from Western Sahara. IFS Food did not respond to how these establishments are to ensure legal compliance in the supply chain, or how the products that are exported from Western Sahara into Morocco are labelled correctly. 

IFS Food did not respond to inquiries about what, if any, measures have been taken to ensure that food distribution companies accurately label their products.

Furthermore, IFS Food never addressed whether it has investigated if the Saharawi people have consented to the issuance of certificates to Moroccan companies operating in occupied Western Sahara or to foreign companies sourcing products from the territory.

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