A new report from the Israeli legal NGO Global Echo, which was cited by the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, alleges that Israeli producers are systematically obscuring the origin of agricultural goods sourced from occupied Palestinian settlements when those products are exported to the European Union.
According to the study, titled “Importing Occupation,” products from settlements are frequently declared as simply “Israeli” in order to qualify for applicable EU customs benefits. An analysis of over 2,000 invoices designated for this purpose, which listed “Israel” as the country of origin, found that these products originated from settlements in 16.7 percent of all cases.
The report details several methods used by producers and exporters to disguise the true origin. These methods include mixing settlement products with conventional Israeli products during processing or packaging, allowing them to be collectively declared as “Israeli.” Furthermore, some traders input false Israeli addresses in their export documentation to designate the place of origin for settlement products. While the specific origin location is often named correctly in the documents, the country of origin is then erroneously listed as “Israel.”
The report also faults the EU for what it terms a “systemic failure” regarding the handling of these settlement-sourced goods. The study suggests that the scrutiny of thousands of export documents indicates that these products are often not correctly identified as originating from settlements and are thus falsely exempted from customs duties.
Key agricultural products exported from Israel to Europe include dates, citrus fruits, avocados, and olive oil. In the last decade, the study found that in over 17 percent of roughly 6,800 inspected shipments of agricultural products entering the EU, as well as the UK, Norway, and Switzerland, the goods came from settlements. When focusing specifically on exports to the EU, this figure climbed to nearly 20 percent. The NGO noted that this research fills a critical gap, as there have been no recent accurate estimates regarding the proportion of settlement products in Israeli exports; the last available data dated back to 2011, reporting only 2.23 percent.
This investigation surfaces at a politically sensitive time, as the EU is currently reviewing options regarding trade restrictions-or a complete cessation of trade-with Israeli settlements. European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas previously presented several options for increased limitations during a ministerial meeting. Meanwhile, Germany has so far opposed the imposition of trade restrictions on these Israeli settlements.
