The Austrian company Quality Austria travelled to the occupied territory of Western Sahara to undertake inspections for companies that are engaged in controversial exports of fisheries products. Then it issued certificates with false address information.

Every year, the Moroccan octopus exporter SOCOPO proudly posts on its Facebook page the images of representatives of Quality Austria visiting its factory on occupied land. In 2022, 2023 and 2024. SOCOPO posted documentation of delegations from Austria in meetings with SOCOPO management and inspecting the premises. 

SOCOPO received so-called FSSC 22000 V6 and ISO 45001 certifications following the Quality Austria visit. 

The Austrian-Sahrawi Society and WSRW wrote Quality Austria on 29 November 2024.

"Legal compliance is a fundamental part of ISO 22000, ensuring that the organization's management system not only meets the standard's requirements but also aligns with the laws of the country where it operates. On that basis, we fail to understand how Quality Austria has come to the conclusion that companies in the occupied territory should go through a compliance check, and that the geographical location thereafter was placed in “Morocco”, the organisations wrote. 

The two organisations asked a series of questions, but, to date, have not received any response, despite having sent a reminder in June 2025.  

Paradoxically, the Austrian company that refuses to answer questions about its certification of Moroccan firms involved in the export of fisheries products from occupied Western Sahara in violation of the Saharawi people's fundamental rights, is simultaneously offering social responsibility training - while branding itself a “pioneer in the field.”

Also another company in occupied Western Sahara, Mogafish, proudly announces on its website (or download) having a certificate issued by Quality Austria. That certificate, carrying the logo and signature of the Austrian company, is placing the establishment in the wrong country, calling the city of El Aaiún as being in "Morocco". 

The EU Court of Justice has through a chain of ten rulings concluded that Morocco and Western Sahara are "separate and distinct" territories, that EU-Moroccan fisheries agreements cannot be applied to Western Sahara, that Western Sahara waters are not Moroccan, and that products sold in Europe from Western Sahara cannot be labeled as Moroccan. 

The licence and practices of Quality Austria ignore all these rulings. 

WSRW wrote to SOCOPO and to Mogafish on 8 December 2024 regarding its production in occupied Western Sahara, without obtaining a response.  

SOCOPO is also to be found on the public registry of the food safety initiative FSSC, as adhering to the FSSC22000 standard (download). The certificate covers “Processing (washing, sorting, calibration), freezing, packing in the cardboard boxes and storage in the cold room (-18°C) of cephalopods”. 
 

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