Jeremy Corbyn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeremy Corbyn on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has agreed arrangements with the Israeli government to ensure that all animal products exported from Israel to the UK originate wholly within Israel and not from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

George Eustice

This Department has had no discussions with Israel about accepting animal products from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The rules for the importation of animal products are laid down in European Union (EU) animal and public health legislation. Imports are only accepted from approved third countries. The decision to approve a third country is made at an EU level and is based on the animal and public health status of the country concerned.

Israel is approved for a number of different categories of animal product. This approval is limited to Israel and does not include the Occupied Palestinian Territories.