Foto: Cognis.com. Et av konsernets anlegg i Tyskland

Saken om norske Napro Pharma's bruk av Omega 3 fra okkuperte Vest-Sahara har blitt slått stort opp av SVT og NRK. 15. mars skriver Napro Pharmas tyske morkonsern at de krever stans av importen fra Vest-Sahara.

Før helgen uttalte Cognis i en epost til en tysk ex-parlamentariker, og til WSRW at de be Napro Pharma også stanse importen fra Marokko. De har dermed snudd i saken, og vil likevel importere fra Marokko.....men altså ikke fra Vest-Sahara. Hvordan de tenker å gjøre dette så lenge deres leverandør GC Rieber innrømmer å importere fra Vest-Sahara er ikke kjent.

Last ned brevet i pdf her.



Mr. Ronny Hansen
Støttekomiteen for Vest-Sahara

Monheim, March 15, 2010

Sourcing of fish oil from Western Sahara: your open letter / our measures taken

Dear Ronny Hansen,

Thank you very much for your letter and the information given on the political situation of Western Sahara.

Please let us explain the position of our company on the sourcing of fish oil from Western Sahara and also inform you about the actions we have taken in reaction to the recent information.

We incorporate sustainable values and practices into our purchasing procedures and expect all our suppliers and service providers to adopt a similar approach. We mainly source fish oil from Peru and Chile. Up until now a minor part of our fish oil supply also came from Morocco.

With the information gained from the Swedish TV program “Uppdrag Granskning” we contacted our supplier in order to make sure that the fish oil provided to us does not originate from Western Sahara. The respective supplier confirmed that the fish oil we receive from Morocco does not come from Western Sahara, but is made from fish caught in the area of Tan Tan and Agadir, by local fishermen.

Based on the report on SVT 1 of Wednesday, March 10, we inquired once again and this time were told that it can not be guaranteed to 100 percent that we do not get fish oil from Western Sahara as well.

In the light of this new information we requested our supplier
• to provide us with detailed documentation on the origin of the fish oil we received within the last 12 months.
• to ensure that the fish oil provided to us in the future will not originate from Western Sahara.

I hope that this information shows you that our company takes this topic very seriously and is committed to stop imports of fish oil from Western Sahara.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,
Antonio Trius Stephane Baseden
Chief Executive Officer Cognis Executive Vice President Nutrition & Health