EU Bans Import of Israeli Dairy Products Made in Palestine

PALESTINE - ISRAEL, 13 Oct 2014

TeleSur – TRANSCEND Media Service

The ban is expected to have only minimal economic impact, but it is one of the boldest moves taken by western nations to put pressure on the Israeli government to change its policies toward Palestine.

The European Union has announced that a ban on all Israeli dairy products produced by settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories will be applied as of January of 2015, according to media reports on Friday [10 Oct 2014].

The ban comes after the EU decided that it will no longer recognize Israel’s claims to areas over the pre-1967 lines. This means it will not recognize the authority of the Israeli Agricultural Ministry and their dairy factories that operate in these areas – which include the West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. They, therefore, consider the products to be unregulated and not compliant with EU import standards.

In June, the European Union placed a similar ban on poultry products, while fish products will be added to the ban as of February of next year.

EU officials have said that this is not an official boycott of Israeli products. However, it is one of the boldest moves taken by any western nation to put pressure on the Israeli government to remove its blockade of the Gaza Strip and stop settlements in Palestinian territory – which it considers illegal.

The economic impacts of the ban are expected to be minimal, however. According to Amnon Leiberman, a spokesperson for the Israeli Agricultural Ministry, the dairy market is primarily a local one, and only a small percentage of its products are exported to Europe.

European countries have been increasingly vocal about their disapproval of Israel’s handling of Palestinian affairs, mainly for their expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

The United Kingdom is set to vote on October 13 on whether it will recognize Palestine as an independent state, and is showing a good deal of parliamentary support for the motion.  Sweden’s new left wing prime minister, Stefan Lofven, also announced that it will vote on recognizing a sovereign Palestinian state.

Go to Original – telesurtv.net

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