The European Union (EU) now requires goods produced in illegal settlements to be labeled separately from those made in pre-1967 Israeli borders, according to new regulations announced on Wednesday. The decision came after roughly three years of deliberation and strong Israeli resistance. The EU repeatedly denied Israeli claims that this regulation is considered a boycott of Israel. The EU already has legal requirements to label the sources of imported goods and the new regulations only implement these laws after customers requested more clarity on the sources of goods produced in settlements. The details are laid out in an interpretative notice and fact sheet released by the European Commission (EC), explaining that the Golan Heights and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not part of the Israeli territory according to international law, making the label ‘product from Israel’ for goods produced in these regions “incorrect and misleading”. Products made in these settlements cannot be labeled “product from the West Bank,” for example, unless they are made in Palestine and not Israeli settlements. Otherwise, the labels must include something along the lines of “(Israeli) settlement.” The decision triggered powerful backlash and…
EU Decides ‘Made in Israel’ Labels not to be Used on Products Made in Palestinian Territories
November 12, 2015
