The MERCOSUR countries must not ratify the new free trade agreement with Israel
By Stop the Wall
Summary
The MERCOSUR countries signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel on December 18 2008
The MERCOSUR must put pressure on Israel to implement human rights by refusing to ratify the FTA
o The MERCOSUR explicitly links trade agreements to human rights. The FTA undermines human rights by supporting a serial human rights abuser.
o The agreement brings MERCOSUR into conflict with their stated commitment to the UN purposes and principles
o The FTA risks legitimizing the illegal settlements and enhances their profits.
o The agreement does not contain a clause committing Israel to democracy, contradicting MERCOSUR commitments
o The FTA ignores the requirements of international law and international humanitarian law
o The FTA supports companies involved in war crimes and illegal activities via access to preferential trade
o MERCOSUR have committed to use economic relations to promote human rights. This FTA does the opposite.
Israel does not meet MERCOSUR standard of democracy and human rights:
Key point 1: Israel continually attacks fundamental human rights and freedoms
Key point 2: Israel continually breaches international law
Key point 3: Israel is not a democracy
The MERCOSUR explicitly links trade agreements to human rights. The FTA undermines human rights by supporting a serial human rights abuser.
Declaration signed by the MERCOSUR presidents explicitly link trade agreements to the promotion of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy:
o Protocolo de Asunción sobre Compromiso con la Promoción y Protección de los Derechos Humanos del Mercosur (June 2005), states that democracy, development and respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent.
o Declaración sobre Derechos Humanos de los Presidentes del Mercosur y Estados Asociados (December 2005)
o Protocolo de Ushaia sobre Compromiso Democratico en el Mercosur, la Republica de Bolivia y la Republica de Chile
Israel does not respect human rights and fundamental freedoms (See key point 1 below).
The FTA undermines human rights by supporting a serial human rights abuser. The agreement will render Israeli human rights violations more sustainable and profitable.
By signing the FTA, the MERCOSUR is violating its commitment to promote respect for human rights.
In the Protocol of Ushaia, the MERCOSUR sets out a system of economic pressure by suspending trade agreements with member states whose democratic functioning is discontinued. This commitment of the MERCOSUR to use economic leverage to ensure the fundamental rights and values upheld by the MERCOSUR countries should be enforced beyond its member states.
The agreement brings MERCOSUR into conflict with their stated commitment to the UN purposes and principles
MERCOSUR countries have publicly committed to upholding the purposes of the UN.
o Declaracion Politica del Mercosur, Bolivia y Chile como Zona de Paz, Hecha en Ushuaia (July 1998)
o Declaración Presidencial sobre Compromiso del Mercosur con el Estatuto de Roma de la Corte Penal Internacional (June 2005)
Israel continually violates the purposes and resolution of the UN (see key point 2 below). The FTA will lend economic support to Israel, tacitly endorsing their violations instead of challenging them.
The FTA risks legitimizing the illegal settlements
In defiance of the purposes of the UN and UN resolutions, the FTA legitimizes Israeli claims on its settlements, declared illegal by numerous UN resolutions and the International Court of Justice ruling in July 2004:
o The FTA does not put any limitations for Israel to declare settlement products from the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “Israeli products”.
o It even goes further and defines the territory of origin of agricultural and other products as including “sus mares territoriales, su zona económica exclusiva o su plataforma continental” (our emphasis). Settlements are evidently exclusively Israeli economic zones. This opens all doors for settlements products to be freely – and at reduced tariffs – imported to MERCOSUR countries.
Israel will try to export illegal settlement products under the agreement, as they did under the EU Association Agreement, leading to a ten year legal battle. (See Annex B)
As drafted, the FTA opens the door for the export of illegal settlement products, and supporting and legitimizing the illegal occupation of the West Bank.
The agreement does not contain a clause committing Israel to democracy, contradicting MERCOSUR commitments
MERCOSUR committed that trade agreements should contain clauses committing the parties to democracy.
This is explicit in the Declaración Presidencial sobre Compromiso Democrático en el Mercosur (June 1996)
The FTA with Israel does not include such a clause. The agreement is therefore inconsistent with the stated values and rules of the MERCOSUR.
MERCOSUR’s definition of democracy includes respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Ongoing abuse of human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as systematic discrimination mean that Israel cannot be considered a democracy that measures up to MERCOSUR standards (see key point 3 below).
The FTA ignores the requirements of international law and international humanitarian law
Further to their stated commitment, MERCOSUR have obligations under international law not to support Israeli violations:
o The ICJ judgement on the illegality of the Wall sets out clear obligations for parties to the IV Geneva convention:
“All States are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction; all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention;”
o The IV Geneva convention sets out clearly in Article 1 that parties to the Conventions “undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.”
The FTA via its economic support to Israel indirectly renders aid and assistance to the situation created by the Wall and risks to support directly companies that are profiting from the Wall and the situation created by it. The MERCOSUR fail to meet their obligations to ensure respect for the IV Geneva Convention by not using its economic leverage against Israeli war crimes. As explained above, its definition of territory of origin gives implicit recognition to the illegal situation created by the Wall.
The FTA opens access to preferential trade to companies involved in war crimes and illegal activities
Israeli industry, with the support of the authorities, is engaged in grave breaches of international law.
Support for Israeli industry, inherent in the FTA, constitutes support for this illegal activity.
Every dollar earned through trade and cooperation with Israel supports the maintenance of Israeli occupation and apartheid policies
o Most Israeli exports to MERCOSUR countries are chemicals, particularly fertilizers, followed by machinery.
o Four Israeli chemical factories currently work within settlements in the West Bank. A number of them closed down their operations in Israel in order to transfer them to the settlements, where they are not limited health and safety and environment regulation. Hardly any of the Israeli companies producing fertilizers do not supply as well Israeli settlements
o Israel’s agricultural production is largely carried out on Palestinian or Syrian occupied and confiscated lands and fed by illegally appropriated Palestinian water reserves.
o Its industrial zones on occupied and illegally confiscated Palestinian lands are growing.
o Its cutting edge hi-technology production is to a large extent a result of the high levels of Research & Development funding for the Israeli military apparatus that sustains the occupation, its ability to “test” whatever military or security product on the Palestinian people and the close ties of such activity for “civil” research
The FTA contains no mechanisms to ensure that exporters comply with international law.
• There are no mechanisms to ensure companies selling machinery to the MERCOSUR are not also supplying Israel’s occupation army and the construction companies building the Wall.
• There is no clause blocking the main imports to Israel from MERCOSUR being resold in Israeli settlements, to soldiers that commit war crimes against the Palestinian people, the generals strategizing our ghettoization, the politicians promoting the expulsion of Palestinians.
MERCOSUR risks putting itself outside international law if it refuses to comply with its obligation to ensure respect for the IV Geneva Convention and the ICJ decision.
The United Nations have blatantly refused to comply with their mandate to ensure the application of international law in Palestine. This does not exempt member states from action. It rather lays the responsibility with every single state to ensure it complies with international conventions and respects Human Rights when dealing with Israel.
MERCOSUR have committed to use economic means to promote human rights. This FTA does the opposite.
The negotiations over the FTA are a crucial moment to deliver a message to Israel that their ongoing violations will not be tolerated.
o The director general of the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, Raanan Dinur, has stated that “this is one of the most important steps Israel has taken in foreign trade in recent years.”
The MERCOSUR has clear rules for economic pressure on member states in case of violations of the principles of democracy and human rights. We are not aware of any kind of such action taken so far by the four signing member countries of the MERCOSUR to support the application of democracy and human rights in Palestine.
If human rights are universal, MERCOSUR should be applying economic pressure to support human rights even beyond its member states. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories John Dugard called on regional bodies to apply pressure on Israel to comply with international law.
o A former member of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Dugard recalled the importance of international sanctions - not “engagement” with the apartheid regime - imposed by individual states on apartheid South Africa in the 1980s.
The MERCOSUR countries are in a strong position to take a tough negotiating stance with Israel over human rights, international law and occupation.
o Brazil alone is Israel’s third most important export destination without the free trade agreement, while trade with Israel has a much less important role for the countries in the Mercosur.
Mercosur countries must abstain from the FTA or other agreements until Israel complies with international law, human rights and the relevant UN resolutions.
Israel does not meet MERCOSUR standard of democracy and human rights: key information
Key point 1: Israel continually attacks fundamental human rights and freedoms
o The UN Human Rights Council lists the ‘Palestinian territories occupied since 1967’ as one of twelve countries deserving of a special rapporteur to monitor human rights abuses and Israeli actions there are to be a permanent item on the agenda.
o Israel has violated nearly all of the rights embodied in the UN covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which has been ratified by Israel.
o Israeli human rights abuses have been documented by Palestinian organizations such as the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, al-Haq and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, as well as by international observers such as UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard.
o Israel violates refugee rights. Israel refuses to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their lands, violating Article 13 (2) of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, in spite of UN resolutions demanding that it do so.
o With its ongoing attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, Israel abuses fundamental Palestinian rights on a daily basis. Among the rights abused are:
o Right to education: Palestinian schools are bulldozed, students and teachers are prevented from reaching educational establishments through the system of closure and the Apartheid Wall.
o Right to family life: the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law denies Palestinians with Israeli citizenship the right to acquire citizen status for their spouses from the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians are prevented from reaching their families by curfews and closure.
o Right to a home: Palestinians are subject to frequent home demolition, particularly in Jerusalem, where they are denied planning permission to prevent Palestinian communities from expanding.
o Right to a fair trial: Palestinians are arbitrarily detained and imprisoned without trial or legal redress.
o Israel practices racial discrimination and apartheid. Palestinians living as Israeli citizens are subjected to a two-tier society in which they are consistently discriminated against.
o In March 2007, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found Israel to be in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on numerous counts. It expressed concern about Israel's refusal to supply relevant information.
o Denial of Palestinian access to land and resources is official Israeli policy within the Green Line. The Israeli Land Administration, which controls 93% of available land openly discriminates against non-Jews, and there is gross inequity in the allocation of state resources on education and housing. The proposed “Jewish National Fund Law” is the natural next step, denying Palestinians the right to buy land owned by the JNF under any circumstances.
Key point 2: Israel continually breaches international law
The MERCOSUR states have committed to upholding international law and UN Resolutions. The FTA between the MERCOSUR and Israel risks infringing the obligations of the MERCOSUR member states under international law. Israel continually violates international law:
o It is refusing to comply with ICJ decision (9 July 2004) regarding the illegality of the Wall. The courts judgement, including the necessity for the Wall to be torn down was confirmed by General Assembly resolution ES-10/15 (20 July 2004)
o It refuses to comply IV Geneva convention, particularly regarding the prohibition to change territory, to transfer population, and meet obligations on health and well being of the occupied population. It argues that the Conventions are not applicable in Palestine.
o It is actively in breach of over 100 UN resolutions, including resolution 181 on the Partition of Palestine, 242 on the withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza and 194 on the return of the refugees.
o Israel's economic strength is used to the negation of the purposes of the UN. It is used to sustain:
o Sixty years of occupation and apartheid
o Illegal projects such as the construction of the Apartheid Wall, imprisoning the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza, construction of Israeli settlements.
o The arbitrary imprisonment of 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners
o The devastation of the Palestinian economy.
Key point 3: Israel is not a democracy
The MERCOSUR states have committed themselves to promoting democracy by including a democracy clause in trade agreements. The FTA does not have one, and Israel does not measure up to MERCOSUR standards of democracy.
o Israel cannot be termed a democracy while it restricts citizenship rights on the basis of race. Israel is an 'ethnocratic' state which privileges the Jewish population and excludes the indigenous Palestinian population.
o The Nationality and Entry into Israel Law denies Palestinians with Israeli citizenship the right to acquire citizen status for their spouses from the West Bank and Gaza. The Supreme Court of Israel has rejected appeals against the order. The law has been condemned by the UN.
o State bodies actively discriminate against non-Jews. On 18 July 2007, a racist bill entitled the “Jewish National Fund Law” passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset. It stipulates that land owned by the state-controlled Jewish National Fund (JNF) is to be allocated exclusively to Jewish people. The Bill passed the next Parliamentary stage and is now passing into law.
o The Shin Bet intelligence service claims the right to attack entirely legal publications which threaten the "Jewish character" of Israel. Indigenous Palestinians who make up 20% of the population are attacked by the state for organizing to gain political recognition.
o The Israeli state restricts free civic discourse – a vital sign of democracy – and attempts to exclude all voices that challenge the Jewish-only character of Israeli institutions. The Minister of Education recently cancelled an experimental education program because it included articles by Edward Said and Arab Member of Knesset (MK) Dr. Azmi Bishara.
o The ongoing illegal occupation makes democracy impossible. Over four million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who have lived under occupation for 40 years are denied democratic rights by Israel. They are repressed with military orders, tried in military courts and detained for years without prosecution or charge. Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, which is under international law part of the West Bank, are even denied their right to vote in Palestinian elections.
Annex A: Relevant MERCOSUR documents and declarations
DOCUMENT 1. Protocolo de Asunción sobre Compromiso con la Promoción y Protección de los Derechos Humanos del Mercosur (19.06.05)
“Asunción Protocol on the Commitment to Promote and Protect Human Rights”
The protocol was signed on 19 June 2005 by the then Presidents of all the MERCOSUR countries. It outlines that democracy, development and respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent. Trade and trade agreements with Israel contradict these stated values.
The document outlines that the creation of a common market is a political project, rather than simply an economic one:
En efecto, los avances en la construcción del mercado común implican necesariamente la conformación de un ''espacio político común “ en el que en forma implícita rige una "política MERCOSUR”.
The document makes clear that development and economic and trade relations by their nature either advance or contradict the values of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“lo expresado en la Declaración y el Programa de Acción de la Conferencia Mundial de Derechos Humanos de 1993, que la democracia, el desarrollo y el respeto a los derechos humanos y libertades fundamentales son conceptos interdependientes que se refuerzan mutuamente;”
DOCUMENT 2. Protocolo de Ushaia sobre Compromiso Democratico en el Mercosur, la Republica de Bolivia y la Republica de Chile
“ARTICULO 2
Este Protocolo se aplicará a las relaciones que resulten de los respectivos Acuerdos de integración vigentes entre los Estados partes del presente Protocolo, en caso de ruptura del orden democrático en alguno de ellos.
ARTICULO 3
Toda ruptura del orden democrático en uno de los Estados partes del presente Protocolo dará lugar a la aplicación de los procedimientos previstos en los artículos siguientes.
ARTICULO 4
En caso de ruptura del orden democrático en un estado parte del presente Protocolo, los demás Estados Partes promoverán las consultas pertinentes entre sí y con el Estado afectado.
ARTICULO 5
Cuando las consultas mencionadas en el artículo anterior resultaren infructuosas, los demás Estados Partes del presente Protocolo, según corresponda de conformidad con los Acuerdos de integración vigentes entre ellos, considerarán la naturaleza y el alcance de las medidas a aplicar, teniendo en cuenta la gravedad de la situación existente. Dichas medidas abarcarán desde la suspensión del derecho a participar en los distintos órganos de los respectivos procesos de integración, hasta la suspensión de los derechos y obligaciones emergentes de esos procesos”.
In the Protocol of Ushaia, clear economic means of pressure are described to ensure democratic rules are applied.
DOCUMENT 3. Declaracion Politica del Mercosur, Bolivia y Chile como Zona de Paz, Hecha en Ushuaia, 24 de Julio de 1998
“Policy Statement of Mercosur, Bolivia and Chile as a Zone of Peace”
The 1998 Declaration commits the MERCOSUR states to the principles and purposes of the UN:
“RATIFICANDO su compromiso con los propósitos y principios de la Carta de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas y la Carta de la Organización de los Estados Americanos […]
REAFIRMANDO que el fiel respeto a esos principios y propósitos, así como el fortalecimiento de la democracia representativa, el respeto a los derechos humanos, las libertades fundamentales, el progreso social y la protección del medio ambiente constituyen elementos fundamentales para el afianzamiento de la paz y la seguridad en la región,”
Israel contravenes all of the four 'purposes of the UN:
• to maintain international peace and security;
• to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples;
• to achieve international co-operation and to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.
DOCUMENT 4: Declaración sobre Derechos Humanos de los Presidentes del Mercosur y Estados Asociados
“Declaration on Human Rights of the presidents of Mercosur and associated countries”
The presidents of the MERCOSUR and the associated states state their commitment to human rights:
“1. La plena vigencia de los principios y valores que sustentan la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos del 10 de Diciembre de 1948, y la necesidad de velar por el respeto de los derechos y las libertades fundamentales de todos sin discriminación por motivo de raza, color, sexo, idioma, religión, opinión política o de otra índole. […]
4. Reafirman el compromiso con el respeto, protección y promoción de los Derechos Humanos, con base en los principios de universalidad, indivisibilidad e interdependencia de los derechos civiles, políticos, económicos, sociales y culturales; y se comprometen a aplicar las políticas públicas tendientes a asegurar su efectivo ejercicio.”
Israel does not respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. The FTA between the MERCOSUR and Israel will render the Israeli system of Human Rights violations more sustainable and profitable.
DOCUMENT 5. Declaración Presidencial sobre Compromiso Democrático en el Mercosur, Potrero de Los Funes, (June1996)
“Presidential Statement on Mercosur’s Commitment to Democracy”
“5.- Las Partes deberán incluir una cláusula de afirmación del compromise con los principios democráticos en los acuerdos del MERCOSUR con otros países o grupo de países.”
The principles of democracy are further defined in the Protocol de Asunción:
“SUBRAYANDO lo expresado en distintas resoluciones de la Asamblea General y de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas, que el respeto a los derechos humanos y de las libertades fundamentales son elementos esenciales de la democracia;” (Protocolo de Asunción sobre Compromiso con la Promoción y Protección de los Derechos Humanos del Mercosur, 19 de junio de 2005)
The FTA between the MERCOSUR and Israel does not include the above mentioned clause premising the agreement on a commitment to democracy.
In fact, considering the definitions of democracy given by the MERCOSUR elsewhere, it is clear that Israel cannot be considered a democracy that reaches up to MERCOSUR standards.
Appendix B: Israel’s abuse of the EU Trade Association Agreement – settlement products and implications for MERCOSUR
Summary
o From the signing of the EU Association Agreement in 1995, Israel attempted to abuse the agreement by exporting produce from illegal settlements under reduced tariffs.
o This was opposed by European states, as to accept the arrangement would have been to legitimize Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The result was a ten year legal battle, during which Israel continued its attempts to defy the international consensus.
o In 2005, the Occupation was forced on legal and technical grounds into providing information to the EU in order to identify settlement products.
o These products do not now benefit from preferential tariffs when exported to the EU under the EU Association agreement.
o Israel is likely to use the same bullying tactics in its engagement with MERCOSUR. The MERCOSUR countries must resist any Israeli attempt to use the agreement as a political tool to legitimize the illegal settlements.
The issue
o Between 2000 and 2005, the EU and the Occupation had a legal dispute over products originating from the illegal settlements, under the terms of the EU Trade Association Agreement (1995).
o The Association Agreement is a trade agreement offering tariff exemption for Israeli goods imported to Europe.
o The EU argued that settlement products could not be labeled as ‘made in Israel’, as they came not from Israel but from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. They were therefore not eligible for the tariff exemption under the Agreement.
o The Occupation disagreed, and refused to cooperate in identifying the place of origin of the goods.
o The Occupation eventually backed down. There is now a verification mechanism in place to identify settlement products. Settlement products should not now receive tariff exemption.
The dispute
o The issue was political and legal. The Occupation had a political interest in maintaining their position that the settlements are ‘Israeli’. The EU wanted to maintain its stance on Israeli borders, and non-recognition of the settlements.
o The EU's stance on Israel's borders is defined by UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 (pre-1967 borders). Preferential tariffs under the agreement therefore do not apply to the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem.
o This was not primarily an economic issue. Of the total EU-Israel trade of USD20 billion every year, the 'rules of origin' issue is worth only USD7 million: only 0%-1.5% of total trade.
The verification mechanism
o According to observers, mechanism implemented by the EU to verify the origin of products is working reasonably well. The Occupation now labels products from settlements, and exporters must identify them as such. These products receive no tariff exemption to the EU.
o However, the Occupation administration now provides subsidies to producers in the settlements, to enable them to be competitive relative to exporters based in ’48.
o Labeling on supermarket shelves is still the individual responsibility of EU member states.
Timeline
1997
o Initial questions from the European Parliament and national customs officials regarding Israel's compliance with the customs treaty.
o The European Commission (EC) file a complaint.
o Israelis do not respond
o Brussels send a fact-finding commission.
1998
o The EU fact-finding commission reports back, on serious Israeli violations of the trade agreements: "the validity of all preferential certificates issued by Israel, for all products, are put in doubt."
o The Israeli government informs European officials that the settlements were are part of Israel, and they would continue to export settlement products to Europe under the reduced tariffs of the Association Agreement
o Under the ‘non-cooperation’ provisions of the agreement, there was then legal basis for suspension of the agreement. However, the EU decided it would rely on Israeli authorities to clarify the origin of products through verification procedures, rather than opt for suspension.
o Israeli authorities affirmed that all products were originating in Israel.
January to March 2000
o The European Commission tacitly agreed to ignore Israeli violations as a concession to the Oslo process
o At Israel's suggestion, the EU attempted to get the Palestinian Authority to agree to have settlements considered part of Israel’s customs territory, subject to its own trade agreement with the EU, but PA refused.
o The EU tried to obtain voluntarily from the Israelis a list of goods produced in settlements, but Israel refused to cooperate.
o EU Member states were getting increasingly frustrated. The EU Commission advised member states effectively that verification was their individual responsibility.
November 23, 2001,
o The Commission issued a "notice to importers" of Israeli products, reiterating its warning that retroactive duties could be claimed if products were subsequently found to have originated from OPT.
May 2002
o In reaction to the massive invasion of the West Bank, the European Parliament voted to suspend the Association Agreement, invoking its human rights clause. But the EC (which is not obliged to follow the Parliament's resolutions) discarded the vote.
21 October 2002
o The Commission gave Israel 10 months to clarify its position regarding the status of settlement products.
2002
o Member states take an ad hoc approach to the settlement products. On July 6, the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs tells supermarkets are told that they must clearly identify settlement produce.
o April 3, 2003, British authorities announced that they would deny duty preferences to a limited set of Israeli imports, "where there is reasonable doubt as to entitlement."
Early 2003
o The EU's Danish Presidency urges the European Commission to report back to EU Ministers about any practical progress made in the talks between the EU and Israeli experts.
November 2003
o The EU and Israel fail to come to agreement. The EU accuses Israel of foot-dragging.
o After pressure, Israel agrees to drop labels claiming that goods produced in Jewish settlements and in the occupied territories are made in Israel.
November 2003 – December 2005
o The Israelis ignore the agreement with the EU, and continue to label settlement products as ‘made in Israel’.
12 December 2004 – 1 February 2005
o New technical arrangements adopted by the EU-Israel Customs Co-operation Committee require all imports from Israeli settlements indicate the place of production and accompanying zip code. The measures apply from 1 February 2005. The full rate of customs duty is payable on any consignment which is indicated as originating in a settlement.
2005 – present
o Verification mechanism is working according to observers
o The Occupation now labels products from settlements, and exporters must identify them as settlement products. They receive no tariff exemption to the EU.
o To offset this the Occupation administration now provide subsidies to producers in the settlements, to enable them to be competitive relative to exporters based in ’48.