• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Thursday, July 10, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

EU Court Says Israel Settlement Goods Must be Labeled

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
11/12/19
in Featured, World
The Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the occupied West Bank. Photo: AFP

The Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the occupied West Bank. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The E.U.’s top court ruled Tuesday that food products from occupied Palestinian territories must be labeled as such, drawing an angry response from Israel which slammed a “double standard.”

The European Court of Justice said that under E.U. rules on food labeling, it must be clear where products are from – particularly if they come from Israeli settlements.

That way, it said, consumers can make choices based on “ethical considerations and considerations relating to the observance of international law.”

The ECJ ruling effectively backs the E.U. guidelines issued in 2015 on labeling goods from Israeli-occupied areas, which also prompted a furious response. At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared them to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses.

The Luxembourg-based court ruled after France’s top tribunal asked for clarification of rules on labeling goods from the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, which is considered occupied Palestinian territory under international law, as well as the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria in 1967 without international recognition.

“Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance,” said an ECJ statement announcing its decision.

France published guidelines in 2016 saying products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights must carry labels making their precise origin clear.

This was challenged by the Organisation Juive Europeene (European Jewish Organisation) and Psagot, a company that runs vineyards in occupied territories.

Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement Tuesday saying it “strongly rejects” the ruling.

“The ruling’s entire objective is to single out and apply a double standard against Israel,” it said.

“There are over 200 ongoing territorial disputes across the world, yet the (European Court of Justice) has not rendered a single ruling related to the labeling of products originating from these territories.”

But a spokeswoman for the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, insisted the ruling “does not concern products from Israel itself.” It would not affect the privileged trading status the Jewish state has under its association agreement with the bloc, she added.

“The E.U. does not support any form of boycott or sanctions against Israel and the E.U. rejects attempts by the campaigns of the so-called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to isolate Israel,” spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said.

Elsewhere, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Saeb Erekat, welcomed the ruling but urged the EU to go further.

“Our demand is not only for the correct labeling reflecting the certificate of origin of products coming from illegal colonial settlements, but for the banning of those products from international markets.”

‘Ethical Considerations’ 

The court said that labeling products as from the “State of Israel” when in fact they come from “territories … occupied by that State” could mislead consumers.

The court added that E.U. regulations on labelling the origin of goods were intended to allow consumers to make “informed choices” – not just on health, economic, environmental and social grounds, “but also to ethical considerations and considerations relating to the observance of international law”.

“Such considerations could influence consumers’ purchasing decisions,” the ECJ said.

On the issue of Israeli settlements, the court said “they give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by that State outside its territory, in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law.”

Consumers might be misled if it was not made clear that products originated in these settlements, the court added.

But Francois-Henri Briard, the lawyer for Psagot, condemned the ruling, saying it catered to “political prejudices.”

“If such labeling is applied to Israeli products, surely it will also need to be applied to scores of other countries around the world who could be argued to be in violation of international law,” he said in a statement.

Francois Kalifat of the CRIF umbrella association of French Jewish groups called the ruling “discriminatory and intolerable.”

He said it would strengthen the BDS movement, which calls for a broad-ranging boycott of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.


More on the Subject 

Israel Seeks to Further Expand Settlements

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

A house is threatened by a huge blaze during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens, on July 23, 2018
Environment

Greece Blaze is ‘Largest Wildfire Ever Recorded in EU’

by Staff Writer
August 29, 2023
US President Donald Trump speaks on his administration's response to the coronavirus.
Featured

Europe Furious Over Trump’s Unilateral Travel Ban

by Staff Writer
March 12, 2020
Afghan refugees in Greece
Featured

Greece Has ‘Secret Site’ for Migrant Pushbacks: Report

by Staff Writer
March 11, 2020
The Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the occupied West Bank. Photo: AFP
Featured

Unions Pressure Norwegian Fund Over UN Settlement Blacklist

by Staff Writer
March 5, 2020
Migrants and refugees look on after minor clashes with Greek policemen occurred at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, March 2016
Featured

No ‘Legal Basis’ for Greece to Suspend Asylum: UNHCR

by Staff Writer
March 2, 2020
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on November 19, 2017
Featured

Netanyahu Pledges New Settler Homes in Sensitive West Bank Corridor

by Staff Writer
February 25, 2020
Next Post
A person waves a Catalan pro-independence flag in front of the 'Generalitat' palace (Catalan government headquarters) in Barcelona, Spain

Catalan MPs Irk Spain With New Resolution on Secession

A doctor prepares a sample of DNA

Genes and Human Agency: Avert Misuse, Not Scientific Research

Recommended

Women in Afghanistan wearing a blue burqa

ICC Seeks Arrest of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

July 9, 2025
Kenya, Nairobi, 2024-07-16. Protesters in the streets

Nairobi Tense as Kenya Marks Democracy Uprising

July 7, 2025
President Donald Trump

Trump Wins ‘Phenomenal’ Victory as Congress Passes Flagship Bill

July 4, 2025
University students march in protest towards the Istanbul Municipality in Sarachane as they demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 21, 2025.

‘Remember Charlie Hebdo!’ Protesters Seethe at Istanbul Magazine

July 2, 2025
US President Donald Trump

US Senate Edges Towards Vote on Trump’s Divisive Spending Bill

June 30, 2025
Protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

Hong Kong’s Dragnet Widens 5 Years After National Security Law

June 27, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post