Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the data for UK trade with settlements is listed as (a) UK trade with Israel, (b) UK trade with the Occupied Palestinian Territories and (c) a separate category.

The government’s position is that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. Goods originating from these settlements are not entitled to tariff and trade preferences under either the existing agreement between the UK and Israel or under our agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

UK trade statistics are based on data supplied in customs declarations, which includes the country code of the trading partner. This enables trade to be listed as Israel (IL) or the Occupied Palestinian Territories (PS).

Where there are doubts about the declared origin of goods, checks will be undertaken to verify the origin of those goods.