Foodstuffs originating in territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed on Tuesday 12 November (Case C-363/18).
The Organisation Juive Européenne and Vignoble Psagot Ltd challenged, before the French Council of State, an opinion of the French Minister of Economy and Finance of November 2016 requiring foodstuffs from territories occupied by Israel to be labelled as such, or even from settlements, in accordance with the European Commission's interpretative communication of November 2015 (see EUROPE 11429/5).
Relying on the Opinion of the Advocate General (see EUROPE 12274/25), the Court observes that the country of origin or place of provenance of a foodstuff must be mentioned where the omission of such a mention is likely to mislead consumers, in accordance with Regulation (1169/2011) on consumer information on foodstuffs.
By State or country, according to the Community Customs Code, is meant a sovereign entity exercising, within its geographical borders, the full range of competences recognised by international law. And by territory, the Court notes that this term refers to entities other than countries and States.
In that context, the Court states that the fact of affixing to foodstuffs the indication that the State of Israel is their "country of origin", when in fact those foodstuffs originate in territories each having its own international status distinct from that of that State, while being occupied by the latter and subject to the latter's limited jurisdiction, as an occupying power within the meaning of international humanitarian law, is liable to mislead consumers.
With regard to the question of whether the reference to an "Israeli settlement" is mandatory, the EU judge points out that the settlements in some of the territories occupied by Israel give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by that State outside its territory, in violation of the rules of the Geneva Convention of August 1949.
Omitting this mention, implying that only the territory of origin would be mentioned, is likely to mislead consumers, the judge added. According to the judge, consumers must be able to make informed decisions in compliance not only with health, economic, ecological or social considerations, but also with ethical considerations or those relating to respect for international law.
At a press meeting at the end of last week, Oxfam had hoped that the judgement would encourage Member States to apply the Commission's guidelines, in particular by mobilising additional resources. It had also noted that the issue of labelling from the occupied territories was only one aspect among others, such as trade agreements.
See the judgement: http://bit.ly/2Kcu6hS (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Agathe Cherki)