A big setback for pro-Polisario campaigners in the UK
UK campaigners lose legal challenge over Britain-Morocco trade deal
The Western Sahara Campaign UK has lost a legal challenge London's High Court to Britain’s post-Brexit trade arrangements with Morocco over goods from the territory of Western Sahara.
Monday 05/12/2022
A big setback for pro-Polisario campaigners in the UK
LONDON - A campaign group on Monday lost a legal challenge to Britain’s post-Brexit trade arrangements with Morocco over goods from the territory of Western Sahara.
The Western Sahara Campaign UK (WSCUK) took legal action over regulations made by Britain’s finance ministry following the October 2019 "association agreement", which was designed to replicate Morocco's agreement with the European Union.
The group argued at London's High Court that regulations which extended the preferential rate of import duty to goods originating in Western Sahara, a territory Morocco regards as its own, were unlawful.
Judge Sara Cockerill dismissed WSCUK's argument that products originating in Western Sahara should only benefit from preferential tariffs if they were produced with the consent of the people of Western Sahara.
“We welcome today's verdict. We will continue to work closely with Morocco to maximise £2.7 billion pounds worth of trade between our countries,” a British government representative said.