Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have considered reversing the burden of proof to require Israeli exporters to demonstrate their goods are not produced in illegal settlements before being imported into the UK.

Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)

The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal under international law. The UK Government encourages accurate labelling of goods in order to avoid misleading consumers and promote transparency, including those goods produced in illegal settlements in Palestine. Goods produced in these settlements are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the UK’s current trade agreements with the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, HMRC undertakes checks to verify the origin and ensure fiscal compliance.

It is a long-standing position that preferential treatment will be refused to Israeli goods if the production conferring originating status has taken place in a location within Palestine brought under Israeli administration since June 1967. A 2004 technical arrangement, rolled over from the EU, requires that the city, village or industrial zone and postcode where production conferring originating status has taken place appear on all proofs of preferential origin issued or made out in Israel. A change in policy to this long-standing requirement is not currently under consideration.