A veil of deceit shrouds the produce shelves in UK supermarkets and European markets, according to a damning investigation by Global Echo. The non-profit organisation has uncovered evidence of a systematic practice where agricultural products from illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories are being mislabelled as Israeli-grown for export to Europe – including Britain.
The shocking allegations stem from an analysis of over 30,000 export documents spanning eight years. This meticulous research reveals that approximately one in six shipments contained produce from these settlements that was incorrectly identified as Israeli. The implications are far-reaching: by allowing these goods to be mislabelled, the UK and EU have inadvertently facilitated a lucrative trade that benefits from reduced tariffs under a 1995 free trade agreement between Europe and Israel.
This alleged abuse of the system has been facilitated through three primary methods. Firstly, some producers provide accurate settlement addresses and postcodes but label their produce as Israeli – an approach termed 'hiding in plain sight'. This technique is permitted under a 2005 technical agreement between Israel and the EU, despite acknowledging that settlement products are ineligible for lower tariffs. The onus remains with EU and UK border officials to correctly identify and tax these goods.
Global Echo's investigation also highlights two further methods involving fraudulent practices. These include settlement firms using 'sham addresses' that falsely indicate production within Israel's recognised borders, or 'mingling' settlement goods with Israeli products for export – often in shared packing facilities – before labelling the entire consignment as 'grown in Israel'. The organisation asserts that these practices collectively undermine the effective application of EU trade and policy rules by systematically obscuring territorial origin.
The mislabelled shipments examined by Global Echo, representing a small fraction of Israel's total agricultural trade with Europe, were valued at approximately £11.2 million. This means that European consumers and governments are unknowingly subsidising settlement agriculture – fuelling the very occupation they seek to address through diplomatic efforts.