The government’s ban on imports from illegal settlements in the West Bank has been welcomed by the NGO that revealed huge volumes of produce was illegally making its way into European supply chains.
Foreign secretary Ed Miliband announced a “new approach” for the UK government towards the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Miliband (and the UK government) for the first time described settlements in the Palestinian territory as “illegal”, while accusing Israel of pursuing a programme of “ethnic cleansing” in some areas of the West Bank.
And in a package of sanctions against settlers and companies facilitating settlement expansion, he confirmed the UK government would ban imports from the illegal settlements.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of escalating settler violence and concern over the controversial E1 settlement project – which the UK has described as a threat to the viability of a future Palestinian state.
In his Commons speech, Miliband cited UN data which claimed there had been an average of six violent settler attacks against Palestinians per day this year and described Israel’s decision to issue tenders for more than 1,200 homes in E1 as the crossing of a “long-standing red line”.
He argued the development would place settlements between East Jerusalem and the West Bank, creating “a set of facts on the ground to make the two-state solution unviable“. Miliband added France and Canada were also introducing similar import bans, with other countries expected to support further action.
The ban aims to stop the flow of products including a raft of agricultural goods – ranging from dates to avocados, tahini, herbs, peppers, citrus fruits and mangoes – from these settlements, said NGO Global Echo. And some of this produce had, in the past, made its way into UK supermarket supply chains.
Full data is not available on just how much product from illegal settlements was sold under the cloak of Israeli legitimacy via the UK’s existing free trade agreement with the country.
However, Global Echo research published in June analysed more than 30,000 export documents for Israeli shipments to the UK and EU over the past eight years. It found roughly one in six shipments (17%) contained produce originating from illegal settlements passed off as Israeli.
Under current rules, products fround to have been sourced from illegal settlements are subject to tariffs, explained Global Echo legal director Jess Stober.
But the import ban would in effect make the practice “commercially unviable”, she suggested.
The goods would now be “sent back or destroyed”, so there was now an “incentive” throughout the supply chain to ensure losses were avoided by ending the practice.
“So, in essence the ban is self-enforcing in a way the current system is not,” suggested Stober, who said a ban could therefore be enforceable.
“The most common method of obscuring origin we found was simply ‘hiding in plain sight’”, added Global Echo executive director Emily Shaeffer Omer-Man.
“The less common, but tougher [to spot] cases are sham Israeli addresses and settlement produce being mixed with Israeli produce. But the new ban should address these too. It changes the commercial incentives and consequences of trading with settlements for businesses throughout the supply chain. Political will is the only barrier to enforcement now.”
The government is yet to set out how it plans to enforce an import ban. Miliband stated on Tuesday it could take up to nine months to implement. “The UK government clear that Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal under international law,” said a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commenwealth & Development Office.
“The enforcement of sanctions is a priority for HMG. Government departments and specialised agencies (e.g. Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation, HMRC and the National Crime Agency) are mandated to lead on the enforcement and implementation of sanctions and we will work hand in hand to ensure that these sanctions are enforced,” they added.
“Where breaches occur, the government can use a range of civil and criminal powers to respond. This can range from civil penalties to prosecution in the most serious cases, including powers to confiscate assets held to be the proceeds of crime.”
Miliband’s announcement provoked a furious response from Israel, which has closed the UK consulate in East Jerusalem amid a package of countermeasures. Some Jewish groups in the UK, plus the Conservative Party, have also warned it could increase the threat of antisemetism towards British Jews.
At the time of writing, key Israeli ally the US was yet to clearly set out its own response.
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