Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the proposal by the Dutch government to ask retail chains in the Netherlands to state the origin of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights; and if he will consider following the Dutch Government’s example. [15532/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Netherlands Government recently issued a clarification notice on product labelling. This was to the effect that, for products where place of origin is indicated, it would be misleading consumers to label products made in settlements as being ’Made in Israel’, as the settlements are not in Israel. Likewise, it would be misleading to label them as ‘Product of the West Bank’, as this might suggest that they were Palestinian produce.

This guidance was based on EU consumer protection rules and is thus a clarification of an already existing position. The UK and Denmark have previously issued voluntary guidelines along the same lines. In Ireland, my Department has for some years carried a similar set of informal guidelines on its website, for the voluntary use of Irish retailers and wholesalers.

I welcome this latest move by the Netherlands authorities. I agree that many consumers will wish to be able to distinguish settlement goods. At my direction, my Department has been considering the possibilities of further action on similar lines, whether domestically or at EU level. Action across the EU would obviously be preferable, and we have been engaged for some months in discussions with like-minded partners, and with the External Action Service and the European Commission, about possible steps. These discussions are continuing and will be assisted by a recent positive letter on the subject which High Representative Ashton has addressed to all EU Foreign Ministers. I have this week written back to her, together with a number of my fellow Foreign Ministers, to encourage the adoption of EU guidelines on labelling.