Food From Israeli-Occupied Land Must Show Origin, EU Court Says

(Bloomberg) -- The EU’s top court says food imports originating in the territories occupied by Israel must be labeled to show their origin.

“Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance,” the EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled on Tuesday.

The labeling of products from Jewish settlements on the West Bank has been an ongoing point of contention between Israel and the EU, which considers the settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace. Since products from the settlements represent a relatively small percentage of Israel’s exports, the ruling is more of a diplomatic blow than an economic hit.

Israel said it “strongly rejects” the ruling, accusing the court of singling it out.

“There are over 200 ongoing territorial disputes across the world, yet the ECJ has not rendered a single ruling related to the labeling of products originating from these territories,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Chapman in Brussels at pchapman10@bloomberg.net;Alisa Odenheimer in Jerusalem at aodenheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Caroline Alexander

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