EU: West Bank food must have special label
► EUROPEAN COUNTRIES including Britain must mark food and wine made in West Bank settlements with a special label, the EU’s highest court has ruled.
The European Court of Justice said on Tuesday that goods from lands occupied by Israel must indicate both their territory of origin and that they were made in a settlement.
“Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin,” the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement, adding that if the items came from a settlement, they must carry an “indication of that provenance”.
It means that the term “Product of Israel” is considered incorrect for settlement produce under EU rules — which still apply in Britain as a member state. European guidance says labels should instead read: “Product from the West Bank [Israeli settlement]”.
Israel’s foreign minister Yisrael Katz said it was a “double standard against Israel” and diminished the chances of peace with the Palestinians. He would work with European foreign ministers “to prevent the implementation of this gravely flawed policy”.
Husam Zomlot, the chief Palestinian diplomat in the UK, said the ruling “to label illegal settlement products is a welcome step in the right direction”, but added Europe should seek to entirely ban products made on “stolen land and resources”.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem were captured by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967, and the first settlements were established shortly afterwards.
Today nearly 700,000 Israelis live in both areas, amounting to nearly a tenth of the country’s Jewish population. Most countries, including
Britain, consider the West Bank to be occupied by Israel and oppose settlement construction.
Tuesday’s ruling concluded a longrunning case brought by Psagot, a winemaker based in a West Bank settlement of the same name situated between Ramallah and Jerusalem.
The winemaker, which was petitioning against labelling requirements in France, said the decision “mandates religious discrimination, treating Jewishowned and Muslim-owned businesses differently even if they operate in the same geographic location.”
But Israeli officials privately criticised Psagot’s decision to challenge French labelling at an EU level. Several ministries tried to convince Psagot to withdraw its case.
“However, the company decided to continue the process, which in the future may create a more difficult reality that could harm Israeli food exporters,” one official told the Times of Israel.
Britain has traditionally followed EU guidance on labelling products from West Bank settlements, but it is unclear if that position will change if Brexit takes place on January 31 next year.
A European Commission notice published in 2015 said it was “misleading” for consumers if a product is labelled as originating from the West Bank or Golan Heights without indicating it is made in an Israeli settlement.