By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz – 26 March 2010
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159299.html
Made in Israeli-Settlement Hummus
Shamir Salads, an Israeli company located in the West Bank, is marketing its products in Europe using a false address west of the Green Line, violating an agreement between Israel and the European Union.
Jewish activists last week gave the left-wing Gush Shalom movement a label from a Shamir Salads hummus tin they bought in The Hague. The tin has a Kiryat Ata address on it and a Tel Aviv area phone number.
The company’s Internet site, however, says it can be contacted at Shamir Salads 2006 ltd., P.O.Box 5, Barkan industrial area.
The European Court of Justice ruled last month that products manufactured in West Bank settlements are not Israeli and will be taxed. The trade agreements with the EU states exempt most products made in Israel or the Palestinian Authority from tax, while goods made in the settlements are under different customs laws.
The ruling was issued after the German tax authorities forbade the German Brita company to import Soda Club products, because they were made in the company’s plant in the West Bank.
The court ruled that the customs agreement with Israel applies only to territories in full Israeli sovereignty, and not the territories Israel occupied in 1967.
Gush Shalom accused Shamir Salads of deceiving both the European tax authorities and the consumers, who are not aware they are buying a product made in the settlements.
