US too requires labelling of West Bank goods

US Congress
US Congress

US Customs has issued an order enforcing a 1995 law that goods produced in the West Bank must not be marked "Made in Israel".

After the European Union, the US is also requiring that products made in Israeli settlements in the territories should be marked, although not as made in the settlements, but as made in the West Bank.

According to a report on Israeli Channel 1 television's "Mabat" current affairs program, five days ago US Customs and Border Protection issued an instruction to importers in the US that products made in the territories “shall be marked as ‘West Bank,’ ‘Gaza,’ or ‘Gaza Strip’… and shall not contain the words ‘Israel,’ ‘Made in Israel,’ ‘Occupied Territories-Israel’ or words of similar meaning." Anyone breaching the regulation faces a fine.

The instructions were apparently published in response to complaints by Palestinians and human rights organizations in the US that a law dating from 1995 on marking products was not being enforced.

The US State Department confirmed the report, and explained that the regulations made no distinction between products made in Israeli settlements and those made anywhere else in the West Bank.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 28, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

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