European tough measures to fine production of Israeli settlements

The European Commission said that it will issue a warning to European importers concerning production coming from " Israel" on that they will obligate the Israelis to pay customs fees if they find out that certain commodities come from the settlements.

The spokesman for the commission said that in compliance to the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel, the commodities exported by Tel Aviv enter the EU without paying custom fees, while commodities coming from settlements will be subjected to fees as the European Union recognizes the pre 1967 border lines.

He added that the memorandum aims at notifying the customs authorities in the EU 15 member states on the existence of differences between the EU and Israel.

He stressed that the Israeli authorities offers a certificate of origin for the production processed in Gaza, the Golan, the East Jerusalem and the West Bank and that these areas are not Israeli ones and " we do not recognize them" as Israeli areas.