Activists target fertiliser co-ops

PHOSPHATE: NZ co-operatives will continue to import product. Photo: File

Tauranga's Ballance Agri-Nutrients and its South Island rival, Ravensdown, this month again found themselves in the cross-hairs of an activist group protesting the farmer-owned co-operatives' continuing purchase of rock phosphate from the Western Sahara.

The Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) issued a new report calling for companies to cease buying rock phosphate from the region, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute for decades. The report states that in 2014 New Zealand was the third-biggest importer of phosphate from the Western Sahara, after Canada and Lithuania.

Erik Hagen, chairman of WSRW, called for the co-operatives to cease buying the rock phosphate from the area, which it regards as illegally occupied by Morocco. (See factbox)

"Such trade is deeply unethical, as it directly undermines the UN peace efforts," said Mr Hagen. "It is taking place in violation of the Saharawi people's legitimate right to manage their own resources. The Saharawis have a right to self-determination over their land and phosphates, and Morocco and the involved companies don't seem to care at all."

Ballance and Ravensdown referred questions to the Fertiliser Association of New Zealand (FANZ), the companies' research and advocacy group.

FANZ chief executive Philip Mladenov told the Bay of Plenty Times the dispute was a long-standing and complex issue the companies had been dealing with for many years.

Ballance and Ravensdown imported a portion of the phosphate rock used in New Zealand for the manufacture of fertilisers from Office Chrifien des Phosphates SA (OCP), a Moroccan state-owned company, said Dr Mladenov. FANZ had received expert, independent, legal advice that there were no legal or regulatory barriers to the import of rock phosphate from Western Sahara, he said.

FANZ had also received advice that OCP's operations in Western Sahara met the requirements of international law, in particular the relevant UN resolutions.

"The rights and wrongs of the situation are complex, typical of much of the Middle East and North Africa," said Dr Mladenov. "We believe the UN is best placed to make judgments on situations like this."

Dr Mladenov said the companies continued to exercise due diligence and had sought and received a variety of information from OCP on its business practices, including key indicators on their community investments, such as the building of healthcare centres and schools. FANZ member companies were working with OCP to ensure they followed a robust and auditable annual reporting process and were also liaising with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the issue of trade in natural resources with Western Sahara.

"I think the key thing for the companies and their shareholders and for the New Zealand agricultural sector is to make sure the country continues to have access to high quality rock phosphate so we can manufacture rock phosphate fertilisers in New Zealand."