State expects EU action on labelling of West Bank goods

The Government expects EU action on the labelling of goods from illegal West Bank settlements despite a move in Washington that could stymie the European initiative.

Ireland was one of 15 EU states to write to EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini in March to urge her to push EU-level guidelines on the labelling of goods from the settlements.

In the letter, signed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan, the member states said the implementation of this long-standing EU policy was necessary to prevent goods from the illegal settlements being misrepresented as produce of Israel.

Some European states have already issued their own guidelines on labelling settlement products.

However, the EU-wide initiative supported by Dublin could be complicated by recent moves by the US Congress to link negotiations on a US-EU trade deal to the debate on the settlements.

In similar Senate and House bills, which give President Barack Obama "fast track" authority to sign trade agreements with the EU and Pacific Rim states, it was declared a "principal negotiating objective" of the US to discourage "politically motivated" economic actions against "Israel or Israeli-controlled territory".

The House and Senate amendments were seen by their sponsors as striking a blow against those who call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel over its building in the West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Trade deal

The amendments, which apply to the EU-US trade deal known as TTIP, were also seen as a response to the latest EU push on labelling, which the Israeli former finance minister

Yair Lapid

has said could wreak havoc on Israel’s economy.

Former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman in April compared labelling to forcing Jews to wear yellow stars in Nazi-occupied Europe.

The EU has long criticised the settlements as damaging to the prospects of a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Products from the settlements are therefore penalised by being ineligible for the lower EU trade tariffs applicable to goods from Israel or from Palestinian producers.

The EU is Israel’s single biggest trading partner, accounting for about €28 billion in Israeli exports in 2014, but figures on settlement exports to Europe are not available.

In their letter to Ms Mogherini, the 15 foreign ministers said implementation of EU labelling laws was necessary to ensure consumers were not being misled by false information.

“European consumers must indeed have confidence in knowing the origin of food they are purchasing. Green Line Israel and Palestinian producers will benefit from this,” they wrote, urging Ms Mogherini to “take the lead” on the issue.

The Green Line refers to the 1967 border that divides Israel from the occupied West Bank.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the issue was discussed at the most recent meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels and Ireland expected it to be “taken forward” now.