France issues regulations requiring retailers to label goods from Israeli settlements
New regulations state that the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are occupied territories, and packages from these areas say they come from ’an Israeli settlement.’ Israel condemns move as giving ’tail wind to radicals.’
Barak Ravid Nov 24, 2016
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The French government published regulations Thursday requiring importers and retailers to label all products originating from settlements in the occupied territories.
The notification is headed “Notice to economic operators concerning the indication of origin of goods originating in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967.” It states that, in accordance with the November 2015 European Commission guidelines, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights are occupied territories and not considered part of the State of Israel. Therefore, in order not to deceive consumers, the regulations say it is necessary to mark the precise place from which goods originating in these areas came, and not mark them as products of Israel.
Under the new regulations, if a product comes from a settlement, French retailers and importers must make this clear on the packaging and not just name the geographical location where the product originated.
The regulations make it clear that this is intended to prevent a situation in which consumers are misled and think they are buying Palestinian goods from the West Bank or East Jerusalem.
The regulations also state that the geographical region from where the product originated must be noted – for example, “the West Bank” – and then, in parenthesis on the packaging, it must be stated when the product comes from “an Israeli settlement.”
It is not clear why the French government has published these regulations now – a full year after the European Commission guidelines. So far, many countries in Europe have refrained from issuing unique regulations for their retailers and importers, but instead have made do with the general European Commission guidelines.
