Saharan horticultural products are not Moroccan but countries cannot take unilateral measures, says the Court of Justice of the EU

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has ratified the 2021 ruling of the General Court annulling part of the agricultural agreement between the EU and Morocco. Specifically, the one relating to the extension to Western Sahara of the concessions granted to Morocco within the framework of the Association Agreement, which must mean that the productions of the Sahara are definitively excluded from the tariff benefits granted to Moroccan products and that identification and control measures are established on these productions. The ruling legitimises the Polisario Front in the appeals brought against the EU's agricultural and fisheries agreements with Morocco and considers that there was no consent from the Sahrawi people to include their territory and their products in said agreements, so that the Court recognises that products grown in the Sahara are being marketed as Moroccan. This import means that Sahrawi products benefit from tariff reductions, causing a very negative impact on ...