108 tonnes of spoiled settlement goods seized in the West Bank in July

The Palestinian Ministry of National Economy revealed on Tuesday that during the month of July it seized 108 tonnes of spoiled goods produced in Jewish settlements.

According to a statement issued by the ministry’s General Administration of Consumer Protection, the products that were confiscated by Consumer Protection units varied between food products, tobacco, beverages, crude oil, vegetable and animal oil, fats, waxes, chemical products, manufactured goods and transport equipment.

Most of these products are smuggled from Jewish settlements established in the West Bank into Palestinian villages, and from Palestinian villages into cities, out of the sight of customs police.

The amount of spoiled products smuggled into Palestinian territories and seized from the markets by the Palestinian authorities in 2014 alone reached 711 tonnes, most of which came from settlements established in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy.

The confiscated products found by the Palestinian Authorities in the West Bank in the past month are worth 133.5 million shekels ($35.3 million), whereas the products found during the same period last year were worth $30 million.

Article 14 of the Palestinian constitution stipulates that whoever trades in products obtained from Israeli settlements could be sentenced to prison for a period of 2-5 years and fined at least 10,000 Jordanian dinars ($14,000).

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and former Prime Minister Ismail Fayyad approved a law in 2010 banning the entry of any goods produced in Jewish settlements.