Products from illegal settlements on occupied Palestine land sold to Europe as ‘Israeli,’ researchers find
LONDON: Agricultural exports originating from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Golan Heights in Syria are routinely mislabeled as Israeli products when entering European markets, an investigation has found.
A report by legal rights group Global Echo, based on analysis of more than 30,000 export documents covering thousands of shipments to the UK and EU over an eight-year period, alleges that settlement-grown produce has regularly benefited from preferential trade arrangements that are supposed to be reserved for goods produced within Israel’s own internationally recognized borders.
The group said one in six shipments examined contained agricultural products originating from Israeli settlements, but at least 42 percent of those shipments were labeled as “Israeli” in origin.
Under trade rules agreed by Israel with the EU and the UK, Israeli goods are eligible for reduced tariffs. But any products originating from settlements in occupied territories are not eligible for this benefit because the settlements are considered illegal under international law by much of the international community.
