Oslo – Norway has decided that products made in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Eastern part of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights must be labeled with their place of origin.
In a statement announcing the move on Saturday, the Norwegian foreign ministry noted a 2019 ruling by the European Union’s top court requiring products from these areas to be labeled as originating from an “Israeli settlement.”
“Foodstuffs originating in areas occupied by ‘Israel’ must be marked with the area from which the product comes, and that it comes from an Israeli settlement if that is the case,” the statement noted, “especially wine, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and potatoes.”
Norway’s statement also said the country recognizes ‘Israeli’ territory as that under Israeli control prior to 1967, and considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, Gaza, the West Bank, and eastern part of Jerusalem, as contrary to international law.
“Norway considers the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to be contrary to international law,” it stated.
The European Union’s top court ruled in 2019 that EU countries must identify products made in Israeli settlements on their labels. Norway is not an EU member, but is part of the European Single Market.
The European Court of Justice said that when products come from an Israeli settlement, their labels must provide an “indication of that provenance” so that consumers can make “informed choices” when they shop.
The European Commission said it was up to individual EU countries to ensure that labels are correct, but that the origin of settlement produce must be made known in a way that is “not misleading to the consumer.”
France and Belgium have already imposed labeling requirements.
In November 2016, France issued a notice regarding the labeling of products from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and the occupied Golan Heights. ‘Israel’ condemned France’s decision at the time and a winery located in a West Bank settlement took the matter to court, leading to the 2019 ECJ decision.
In November 2021, the government of Belgium decided to start labeling goods made in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning companies of human rights abuse in the area. The Belgian foreign office said that it continues to apply international and European law, “which makes a distinction between Israel on one hand and the Palestinian territories on the other hand.”
“We expect that these goods will be labeled correctly by exporters,” it said, noting that “we have found that it’s very difficult to confirm the exact origin of products.”
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegitimate and an obstacle to creating a Palestinian state. Over the decades, Israeli occupation government has continued to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in illegal housing units planning. There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in 256 illegal settlements and outposts scattered across the occupied West Bank, including Eastern part of Jerusalem.
