Sen. Tom Cotton is looking to reverse federal guidance that would require special labeling for goods produced in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a move the senator argues helps efforts to boycott Israeli goods.
Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued guidance imposing a new ban on marking goods produced in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as originating from Israel, and threatened enforcement actions on those who don’t comply.
The move revived a 1997 U.S. labeling rule that Cotton says is rarely enforced, and it follows a European Union decision in November to require special labeling for products produced in the disputed territories and in Israeli settlements.
Cotton on Monday introduced a bill that would rescind the new policy directive requiring the special labeling for goods produced in the disputed regions.
“The United States must stand with Israel and against any action to undermine its legitimacy,” Cotton said in a statement. “That directive plays right into the hands of those who are driving insidious efforts to boycott Israeli goods.”
The State Department last week said the new guidance in no way represents a boycott of Israeli goods and simply reiterates a 1997 decision to the Treasury Department.
Mark Toner, the State Department spokesman, said the customs agency reissued the policy because of a number of recent complaints that products from the West Bank are being mislabeled, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
“There’s nothing new, this is simply a reissuance of guidance,” Toner told reporters during his daily briefing Friday. “All this simply is a restatement of requirements regarding settlements; we don’t differentiate between settlements and anything else in the West Bank. It in no way represents a boycott or anything like that.”
But Cotton and other Israeli advocates argue that the U.S. has long interpreted the 1997 decision very loosely, and usually in favor of Israel.
“While some say the directive merely restates an old labeling rule originally drafted 20 years ago with no intention to stigmatize Israel, the truth is the rule was lightly if ever enforced and serves little purpose today,” he said.
“Its vigorous enforcement now — coming after a concerted lobbying campaign on the part of groups looking to weaken Israel — will have the undeniable effect of isolating our closest friend in the Middle East and giving other nations an excuse to unfairly treat Israel in trade relations,” he continued.
The 1997 policy, Israel’s supporters say, was made in the wake of the establishment of limited Palestinian sovereignty in parts of the West Bank following the Oslo Accord. The Jerusalem Post points out that the policy included exceptions for things like allowing goods manufactured in Qualifying Industrial Zones — areas established through the consent of all sides where Israeli and foreign businessmen establish enterprises employing Palestinians.
Two U.S. trade representatives under President George W. Bush, Rob Portman and Susan Schwab, issued orders broadly expanding the qualifying zones exception, allowing “Made in Israel” labeling to include ay product manufactured anywhere in the West Bank, the Post said.
The Obama administration’s policy reminder last week appears to be a return to the original interpretation of the rule as it was drafted during the Clinton administration, limiting exemptions only to products manufactured in these qualifying zones.
On Monday, State Department press secretary John Kirby said officials would study the senator’s bill before commenting on it but note there has been no change to the U.S. labeling policy since the new guidance was issued last week.
