Legal basis for exports from Western Sahara to the EU

Question for written answer E-000824/2018 to the Commission Rule 130 Bodil Valero (Verts/ALE), Florent Marcellesi (Verts/ALE), Javier Couso Permuy (GUE/NGL), Renata Briano (S&D), António Marinho e Pinto (ALDE), Ivo Vajgl (ALDE), Jytte Guteland (S&D), Marita Ulvskog (S&D), Isabella Adinolfi (EFDD), Sergio Gaetano Cofferati (S&D), Norbert Neuser (S&D), Miguel Urbán Crespo (GUE/NGL), Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE) and Ana Gomes (S&D) Subject: Legal basis for exports from Western Sahara to the EU On 21 December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Case C-104/16 P — Council v Front Polisario, that no trade or association agreement between the EU and Morocco may be applied to Western Sahara, since the territory is ‘separate and distinct’ from Morocco. In 2017 the Commission authorised companies based in the occupied territory of Western Sahara to export food of animal origin to the European Union. Since the CJEU’s 2016 ruling, under what legal basis have these companies been exporting their products to the European Union?