Angela Eagle, Minister of State for Agriculture and Fisheries / DR ‹ › The British government has stated that agricultural products originating from Western Sahara «cannot be labelled as Moroccan». The position was outlined on March 3 by Angela Eagle, the UK's Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs, in response to a written question from Labour MP Kim Johnson. «The fundamental principles of our food labelling rules are that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable consumers to make informed decisions», Eagle said. «It is the UK position that where origin information is given for food products made or grown in the Western Sahara, it must give accurate origin information and cannot be labelled as Moroccan». She also assured the MP that officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) would review the issues raised so that the relevant authorities can carry out further investigations. The statement by Angela Eagle has been welcomed by the Polisario Front and its supporters in the United Kingdom. In her written question, Kim Johnson had called on the government to take steps to end the labeling of agricultural products from Western Sahara sold on the British market as being of Moroccan origin. However, the association agreement between Morocco and the United Kingdom, signed in London on October 26, 2019, and in force since January 1, 2021, includes Western Sahara within its scope. In May 2023, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales dismissed the appeal of the NGO Western Sahara Campaign UK (WSCUK), which had challenged a previous ruling by the Administrative Court refusing to annul the agreement. Following that decision, the Labour government clarified during a parliamentary intervention in August 2024 that it does not consider commercial activities in Western Sahara illegal, provided they respect the interests of the Sahrawi people.
