London, March 5, 2015 (SPS) - The UK law firm Leigh Day, who is representing the Western Sahara Campaign, has threatened the government to take legal action against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over illegal import of products originating from the Western Sahara, according to a press release of the Campaign.
The statement said that the products originating in Western Sahara are being imported into the UK and treated as Moroccan for the purposes of the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, adding that British fisheries may be granted licences to fish in the territories of Western Sahara under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and Morocco.
“It appears that Morocco is currently benefitting from exporting goods from land and sea it occupies in Western Sahara , against international law. The people of Western Sahara are being denied the right to self-determination over their land and natural resources. The UK government, and in particular, DEFRA and HMRC must take immediate steps to ensure it is not complicit in these actions,” stated Rosa Curling, from law firm Leigh Day.
In letters sent to both DEFRA and HMRC, lawyers for the campaign group said that Moroccan sovereignty does not extend to the territory of Western Sahara or to the adjacent territorial sea, adding that goods and products produced in West Sahara should not to be treated as originating in Morocco for the purposes of preferential tariffs or any other benefits conferred by the Association Agreement.
The letter asked the British companies not to exploit the natural resources of an occupied territory under an agreement to which the occupied peoples were not party, underlying that such move would undermine the right to self-determination of the Saharawi people and recognize as lawful a situation which is unlawful under international law. (SPS)
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