Phosphate imports questioned at Incitec Pivot’s AGM

The Australian fertiliser company Incitec Pivot keeps maintaining its unethical practice of supporting the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. The imports were questioned during the company’s Annual General Meeting on December 19th 2008. Both the legal and the ethical basis of the importations of phosphate from occupied Western Sahara were questioned at IPL’s 2008 Annual General Meeting on Friday. The company secretary replied that IPL is cognizant of the government’s advice to seek legal advice and is satisfied with their legal advice and that they are not trading illegally. “We are still hoping to persuade Incitec Pivot, along with other Australian importers of Saharawi phosphate, to become part of the solution to the problem in Western Sahara instead of consolidating Morocco’s illegal and brutal regime where Saharawis face daily human rights abuses,” said Cate Lewis of the Australian Western Sahara Association, and international secretary of WSRW. "We think the imports from occupied Western Sahara should be of concern to shareholders of IPL. Applying international ethical standards through the UN Principles of Responsible Investment has led fund-holders and investors increasingly to divest from holdings in companies trading in Saharawi phosphate”, Lewis pointed out. Simultaneously, it has been discovered that a new vessel is on its way to IPL.