{"id":470347,"date":"2026-11-05T17:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/11\/05\/restrizioni-ai-prodotti-delle-colonie-israeliane-commissione-ue-valutiamo-nuovi-obblighi-sulle-dichiarazioni-dimportazione\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T19:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T18:02:42","slug":"restrictions-on-products-from-israeli-settlements-eu-says-we-are-considering-new-requirements-for-import-declarations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/11\/05\/restrictions-on-products-from-israeli-settlements-eu-says-we-are-considering-new-requirements-for-import-declarations\/","title":{"rendered":"Restrictions on products from Israeli settlements, EU says, \u201cWe are considering new requirements for import declarations\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 \u201cProof of origin makes it possible to determine whether products come from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, consequently, whether or not to grant preferential treatment. However, this information is not currently included in the statistics; we are therefore considering introducing a requirement to explicitly state, in the import declaration, that the product originates from the settlements, in order to collect the relevant statistics.\u201d This was stated today (5 November) by the Director for Customs Affairs at the European Commission\u2019s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD), Matthias Petschke<\/strong>, at the European Parliament during a debate on the progress of EU trade measures<\/strong> concerning products from Israeli settlements <\/strong>in the Committee on International Trade (INTA). <\/p>\n

In response to the concerns raised by some Member States regarding checks on the labelling of products originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the occupied territories, Petschke emphasised that countries are required to report any cases where they have encountered problems, providing evidence. At present, the Commission has noted \u201ca few cases which it is seeking to address with the Member States concerned and the Israeli authorities.\u201d The aim of this exercise \u201cis to ensure that preferential arrangements are denied where appropriate.\u201d The Director for Customs Affairs also clarified that it is essential to \u201cconsider the proof of origin,” because \u201cit allows us to identify whether a product comes from a legal settlement or not\u201d and consequently \u201cto decide whether or not to grant\u201d the so-called \u201cpreference clause.\u201d For this reason, Member States are being asked \u201cto examine products properly, to review risk profiles and to step up controls.\u201d In this regard, the MEP for Patriots for Europe (PfE), L\u00eddia Pereira<\/strong>, questioned whether the cases of fraud were genuine, particularly given that there is an electronic system in place to monitor them.<\/p>\n

The so-called <\/span>“preference clause”<\/strong> (or the tariff preferences<\/strong>) relating to products from Israeli settlements concerns the application of the customs benefits provided for by the EU\u2013Israel Association Agreement<\/a>. <\/span><\/span>The tariff concessions and reduced duties provided for in the EU\u2013Israel Agreement do not apply<\/strong> to goods produced in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 (including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights), i.e. within Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law.<\/span> The European Union formally distinguishes between the internationally recognised State of Israel and the occupied territories. Consequently, goods originating from the settlements cannot benefit from the preferential “Made in Israel” status.<\/div>\n
\n

A number of MEPs have asked representatives at the Berlaymont Building why the EU executive is at a standstill regarding the proposal for a formal ban<\/strong><\/a> at EU-wide level on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Particularly in light of the fact that, On 8 September, 12 countries (eleven European nations plus Canada) announced restrictive measures and economic sanctions<\/a> against the trade in goods originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. \u201cWe want a proper ban,\u201d announced MEP (S&D), Kathleen Van Brempt<\/strong>. 
However, the debate was characterised more by uncertainty than by concrete proposals. Renew MEP \u013dubica Karva\u0161ov\u00e1<\/strong> emphasised that, despite the situation being at a standstill, \u201cthe Commission cannot afford to stop.\u201d According to the MEP from La Sinistra, Danilo della Valle (M5S)<\/strong>, the Berlaymont building \u201cis hiding behind legal procedures just to avoid taking action.\u201d The Greens MEP, Catarina Viera<\/strong>, also pointed out that in the past, with regard to gas imports from Russia, \u201clegislative measures were introduced, so it is not clear why this cannot be done now as well.\u201d Similarly, the independent MEP, Branislav Ondru\u0161<\/strong>, added: \u201cWe want trade measures with a clear legal basis; the Commission is obliged to deliver.\u201d 
Finally, during the debate, the Director for Neighbouring Countries, Industry, Goods, Regulatory Cooperation and Public Procurement at the European Commission\u2019s Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade), L\u00e9on Delvaux<\/strong>, took a clearer stance, pointing out that the EU Commission\u2019s proposal, issued on 17 September 2025, to suspend the EU\u2013Israel Association Agreement<\/a> regarding breaches of Article 2 on respect for human rights and democratic principles, \u201cis still on the Council\u2019s agenda,\u201d where Member States have been unable to reach a qualified majority. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As for the Berlaymont\u2019s proposal to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, an official from the Trade Directorate explains: \u201cIt is still on the Council\u2019s agenda\u201d; there is no majority among the Member States<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":470256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25705,29788],"tags":[25871,30196,25755,31310,35435,26775,35217],"class_list":["post-470347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-diritti-en","tag-commissione-inta-en","tag-news-parliament-en","tag-gauze","tag-gerusalemme","tag-coloni-israeliani-en","tag-palazzo-berlaymont"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470348,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470347\/revisions\/470348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}