Two officials from the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) visited the Israel Products Center in Nijkerk, a store selling Israeli wines from Judea and Samaria (West Bank).
The retail outfit is run by the pro-Israel group Christians for Israel.
The officials wanted to inspect if the wines are labelled as products from Israeli settlements and not ‘’from Israel’’ in conformity with EU Commission guidelines.
In 2015, the European Commission adopted the ‘’Interpretative Communication on the Origin of Goods Originated in Territories Occupied by Israel since June 1967’’ which included guidELINes stating that Israel has no sovereignty over the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Golan, which was conquered in 1967, and that products from Israeli settlements should not be labeled “made in Israel”.
It is not the first time that the Israel Products Center has been the subject of inspection. In 2019, it was already visited by NVWA officials who threatened to impose fines as wines from the Hebron area were labeled “Made in Israel.”
At the beginning of this yer, the Israel Products Center changed the labeling of the wines in question, according to Christians for Israel. Instead of “Made in Israel”, it now reads “Made in an Israeli village in Judea and Samaria”.
Officials say the labeling is still incorrect, and the Israel Products Center is likely to be fined for this, it has been reported.
The Israel Products Center said “that the NVWA once again wants to unilaterally disadvantage the Jewish state of Israel.’’
Following the new inspection and the announcement of a probable fine, three Dutch MPs have submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark. According to them there is ‘’selectivity.’’ Under the guise of consumer information, an anti-Israel policy is practiced, they said