“We're persuaded it's in the interest of South African
consumers to know whether their products are
coming from Israel or from the occupied territories"
Trade & Industry Minister Rob Davies
After meeting with activist Zackie Achmat and his organisation, Open Shuhada Street, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies this week agreed in principle that goods manufactured in “occupied territories” should be labelled as such, as labelling them as a product of Israel is misleading.
Government plans to enact rules which will place trade obstacles in the way of Israeli imports emanating from “occupied territories” by insisting they are relabeled as "product of illegal settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" before they can be sold.
Among the affected products would be technology and soft drinks products such as the Soda Stream brand, which are presently sold as products of Israel. The cosmetics brand Ahava sold at Wellness Warehouse in Cape Town and at Foschini stores, long the target of Achmat’s Open Shuhada Street, would also be affected.
Many Israeli products, including halva and gherkins, sold at Pick n Pay and Spar, fall into the same category, as would fruit exports such as plums, tomatoes, dates and figs. These are sourced from the occupied territories and sold as a product of Israel at stores such as Pick n Pay and Woolworths, said Achmat.
The next step in the relabelling process would be for Davies to receive the final draft notice from his department. Achmat said this had already been seen and approved by the International Trade Administration of South Africa.
MINISTER SAYS HE IS ALREADY “PERSUADED”
The process the government plans to follow is to publish a notice which would provide for a three-month period of public consultation and comment – after which the prohibition would be published in the Government Gazette. The final step would be the issuing of a trade-description notice prescribing a change in the labels.
Davies told Ilham Rawoot of the Mail & Guardian this week: "I'm waiting for a formal submission and I will apply my mind and decide on the recommendations. We're persuaded it's in the interest of South African consumers to know whether their products are coming from Israel or from the occupied territories."
Achmat argued this week that Israeli settlements in the occupied territories were illegal under international law and that in terms of the Geneva Convention the occupying power could not remove resources from the land it occupied.
"In 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that products from the occupied territories cannot be identified as products of Israel," he said.
Achmat said that, although there would be an attempt to stop the relabelling process, the law was very clear that it had to happen.
"There are even some Israelis who don't buy goods that come from the settlements. This gives people a choice: some people won't buy Israeli products at all, while others won't buy settlement products if they know where they come from, as they involve a clear violation of international law."
THE NEXT STEP IS ALREADY UNDER WAY
The next step in the relabelling process would be for Davies to receive the final draft notice from his department. Achmat said this had already been seen and approved by the International Trade Administration of South Africa.
The notice, providing for a three-month period of public consultation and comment, would then be published in the Government Gazette.
The final step would be the issuing of a trade-description notice prescribing a change in the labels.
Achmat said that since the goods were labelled in Israel and not South Africa, Israeli suppliers might not want to follow the new requirement. As a result, "settlement products will probably become unavailable."
Let us name and shame the
Let us name and shame the Jewish members of Open Shuhada Street and apply public sanction to them even if we cannot apply a religious Cherem on them. They are:
Doron Isaacs
Nathan Geffen
Daniel Mackintosh
Ilan Strauss
They are just attention
They are just attention seekers! Why do we even give them the time of day?? bleh