Articles

• Hauswaldt, Christian

Abstract

Where are Israel's borders? This question arose when European customs officers demanded verification of the origin of products declared as Israeli but which originated in the occupied territories. The EC–Israeli Association Treaty grants preferential tariffs to products of Israeli origin. European customs officers abandoned the practice of treating products originating in the occupied territories as Israeli products after the EC concluded an Association Treaty with the PLO. This caused serious irritation on the Israeli side and controversial discussions between the EC and Israel. The issue remains unsolved. The article argues that this issue is directly linked to the question of sovereignty over the disputed areas of Palestine. It discusses several approaches to the solution of the current problem, and examines the possibility of a bilateral, or even regional, cumulation of origin. It concludes that trade agreements and the rules of origin are so closely related to the question of sovereignty that a final solution to the question of origin of products from the occupied territories can only be found after the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has been solved.