France Council of State dismisses lawsuit against produce imports from Moroccan Sahara

France’s Council of State, the highest administrative jurisdiction of the country, has rejected lately a lawsuit lodged by the Confédération Paysanne (farmers Union), with the support of Algeria and its Polisario puppet, in a bid to ban imports of produce from Morocco’s southern provinces.

The decision of the French Council of State has dealt a hard blow to the enemies of Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its Sahara. Irked by the competition of imports of Moroccan agricultural products, the Confédération Paysanne has tried to no avail to get a ban on Moroccan cherry tomatoes and Charentais melons from the Sahara region, claiming that labeling them as “Moroccan products” violates European Union (EU) regulations.

The move of the farmers Union comes after the politically-motivated ruling issued by the European Court of Justice scrapping EU fisheries & agricultural deals with Morocco because they included goods from the southern provinces: the Sahara.

But the French Council of State has ruled that the ban wanted by the Confédération Paysanne “falls within the jurisdiction of European authorities”, and that the ministers for the economy and agriculture “had no legal authority to ban the import” to France of cherry tomatoes and Charentais melons harvested in the Sahara.

On these grounds, the Conseil d’État dismissed the Confédération Paysanne’s appeal, sending a strong message to Algeria and its Polisario puppet that France recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over its entire Sahara territory and that French supportive stand is irreversible, joining the position of its major Western allies: the United States, Spain, Germany, Netherlands…viewing Morocco as a key strategic partner.