EU rules require accurate origin information when origin labeling is mandatory for a product. In its 2019 Psagot judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that covered food products originating in territories under Israeli administration since 1967 must identify the territory and, where applicable, that the product comes from an Israeli community in that territory.
The ruling interpreted the EU food-information regulation; the Commission’s 2015 interpretative notice addresses origin indication for goods more broadly. The full court judgment sets out the precise holding.
What the 2015 notice says
The notice explains how existing EU rules apply where product origin must be indicated. It says that “product from Israel” would be misleading for goods from the Golan Heights or Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem, under the EU’s stated position on those territories. For goods from Israeli communities there, it says the territorial label alone is insufficient and identifies a label identifying an Israeli community or equivalent wording as an example. The notice did not create new legislation.
The notice is not limited to a short list of produce. Which EU rule requires origin information depends on the product category and circumstances. The notice describes existing requirements across goods, while the later court case concerned food information under Regulation 1169/2011.
What the court decided
The case arose from French wine labels and a request from France’s Council of State. The Court held that, when a food’s origin must be stated, the territory must be identified. It further held that omitting the fact that a product comes from an Israeli community within that territory could mislead consumers about its provenance. The ruling applies the regulation’s consumer-information test; it does not impose origin labels on every product regardless of the underlying labeling rules.
The EU tariff treatment is a separate question: the Commission says goods produced in these communities are not entitled to preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. See how the agreement’s origin rules work.