A member of CodePink says the move sends a message, adding: “I hope, however, that they do more than send a message — I hope they enforce their own regulations about accurate labeling of settlement goods.”
American and Israeli peace activists protest against the Israeli beauty product brand AHAVA, which is made in occupied Palestanian territories but labeled as ‘Made in Israel’. (AP Photo)
This article was originally published in partnership with Tikun Olam on January 30, 2016.
SEATTLE — The Obama administration took a leap in its campaign against illegal Israeli settlements last week, when the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol issued a reminder about a regulation on labelling products produced beyond the Green Line, or the pre-1967 borders, as produced in the “West Bank” rather than “Israel.”
If enforced, the regulation would bring the U.S. into conformity with European Union directives, which are similarly formulated. And, if enforced, food products, wines, and contentious Ahava beauty products, for example, produced in Israeli settlements could no longer be stamped “Made in Israel” without incurring a penalty equal to 10 percent of the value of those goods.
Currently, responsibility lies with the settlement business or the U.S. importer to ensure proper labeling.
Yet, as the Jewish Forward noted Thursday, these regulations and the 10-percent duty have been on the books since 1995; they’ve simply gone overlooked and unenforced.
“According to an April 1995 U.S. Customs and Border Protection notification, products made in the West Bank or Gaza ‘shall be marked as “West Bank,” “Gaza,” or “Gaza Strip”… and shall not contain the words “Israel,” “Made in Israel,” ”Occupied Territories-Israel” or words of similar meaning.”
The reminder issued last week contains the same phrasing.
Given the regulatory reminder published last week, and the increasing importance of this issue among European and U.S. consumers, the days that West Bank settlement wine can be passed off as made “in the heart of Israel” are numbered.
In the wake of the reminder of the 20-year-old regulation, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and NGOs like Adalah-NY and CodePink are expected to redouble their efforts to hold businesses accountable for their practices.
The Forward spoke to Nancy Kricorian, who manages CodePink’s campaign against Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company whose main factory is located in the Occupied West Bank. She said the recent action by Customs “is the U.S. government’s way of ‘sending a message’ to importers.”
See more on Code Pink’s campaign against Ahava:
“I hope, however, that they do more than send a message — I hope they enforce their own regulations about accurate labeling of settlement goods,” Kricorian told the Forward.
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