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Taxation and Customs Union

EU-Israel Technical Arrangement

Implementation in the EU

Products produced in the Israeli settlements located within the territories brought under Israeli administration since June 1967 are not entitled to benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement (see Commission Notice to importers, OJ C 232 of 3 August 2012, page 5).

Exclusion of settlement goods

Since 1 February 2005, the exclusion of settlement goods from preferential treatment has been implemented in the EU as follows:

  • in accordance with a 'Technical Arrangement' concluded by the EU and Israel, the postal code and the name of the city, village or industrial zone where production conferring originating status has taken place appear on all proofs of preferential origin issued or made out in Israel;
  • Member States' customs authorities check whether the postal codes appearing on Israeli proofs of origin presented to them correspond to any of the postal codes appearing in the list of non-eligible locations made available to them by the Commission and refuse preference where such is the case.

List of non-eligible locations

The list of non-eligible locations initially made public in August 2012 was updated further to Israel's move, as of 1 February 2013, to a 7 digit postal code system instead of the 5 digit system used until then. Further updates were published in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022, to take account of a number of changes in the postal codes of the non-eligible locations. Recent changes of postal codes in Israel require a new update to the list.

See the updated list of non-eligible locations in the English/international version (update June 2023). The previous lists (2015 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2022) remain available.

To be noted:

1) The list is available in a format allowing to carry out searches, using the 'find' command of Adobe Reader; this means that carefully entering in the 'find' box the first five digits of the postal code appearing on a proof of origin will allow to determine whether preference may be claimed or not.

2) This list only exists in English (or more precisely with a transliteration of the Hebrew alphabet into the Latin/English alphabet).

3) P.O. boxes are not a sufficiently reliable indication of the place where production conferring origin takes place and cannot be used to determine whether products may be eligible for preferential tariff treatment.

Operators are advised to consult the list before lodging a customs declaration for releasing goods for free circulation in support of which they intend to provide proof of preferential origin issued or made out in Israel. If they find the postal code appearing on the proof of origin in their possession in Part I of the list of non-eligible locations, they should refrain from claiming preference.

If they find the postal code appearing on the proof of origin in their possession in Part II of the list, they are advised to consult the customs office where they intend to lodge the relevant declaration for release for free circulation in order to verify the exact position, and thus eligibility for preference, of the place of production conferring originating status.

Technical Arrangement - Background

The Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union of the European Commission (DG TAXUD) EU and Israel’s Ministry of Finance Tax Authority reached in 2004 an understanding under the form of a technical arrangement to deal with certain technical issues concerning the implementation of Protocol 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement. This arrangement is without prejudice to the positions of both parties concerning the implementation of the Association Agreement.
The arrangement determines that, in order to obtain preference upon import to the EU all movement certificates (including invoice declarations of approved exporters and invoices for goods exported from Israel) shall indicate the name of the city, village or industrial zone and the zip code where the process conferring origin to the goods took place. This complies with the provisions laid out in Articles 4 and 5 of Protocol 4 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The place where the production conferring originating status has taken place should therefore be accompanied by its corresponding postal code.
Finally, the arrangement foresees bilateral consultations to take place upon the request of either party (The European Commission and/or the Israeli Mission to the EU) regarding technical questions.

“Zip code” or postal code : a number that identifies the place according to a postal authority definition.
"Place" means a city, village, locality, or industrial area, including its zip code.