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S.African cabinet approves "made in Palestine" labeling

23 August 2012 01:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The South African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday gave green light to label "made in Palesine" products to provide information about the products’ accurate country of origin, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The approval was given by the cabinet "in line with South Africa’s stance that recognises the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognise occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel, " government spokesman Jimmy Manyi told the media.

Earlier, the DTI issued a notice for public comment regarding labelling of products alleged to be originating in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israeli forces.

The DTI insists that its move to label "made in Palesine" products should not be seen as a call for a boycott of Israeli products but should be seen as an effort to ensure that consumers in South Africa are provided accurate country of origin information so that they can exercise their own informed choice.

"Our recognition is the 1967 borders of Israel. There is a distinction between products from within borders and products from territories outside, notably the West Bank, " SA Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said earlier.

But Jewish groups in South Africa called the move "discriminatory" and "divisive".

"At bottom, they are believed to be motivated not by technical trade concerns but by political bias against the state of Israel. All attempts to discuss these concerns, however, have come to nothing," the South African Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement.

The move also provoked an angry response from Isarel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the labelling "smacked of racism".

The post-apartheid South African government has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause. The government says it only recognizes the pre-1967 borders of Israel, not the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.