Tánaiste publishes General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris TD, today published the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill following approval by Government.

The scheme delivers on the commitment in the Programme for Government to progress legislation prohibiting import of goods from the settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory following the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024.

The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Any such importation will thereby become an offence under the Customs Act 2015, and the prohibition created by the Bill will also then engage the customs powers under that Act, including those relating to search, seizure and forfeiture.

The General Scheme will now be referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny.

Speaking upon the publication of the General Scheme, the Tánaiste said: “The situation in Palestine remains a matter of deep public concern. I have made it consistently clear that this Government will use all levers at its disposal to address the horrifying situation on the ground and to contribute to long-term efforts to achieve a sustainable peace on the basis of the two-State solution.

“Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are illegal and threaten the viability of the two-State solution. This is the longstanding position of the European Union and our international partners. Furthermore, this is the clear position under international law.

“I have been absolutely clear that we have yet to see an adequate response at EU level to the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, notably as regards trade with Israeli settlements.

“This is an issue that I will continue to press at EU level and I reiterated my call for concrete proposals from the European Commission at the Foreign Affairs Council this week.

“However, pending an appropriate response at EU level, the Government committed to advancing our own legislation on the matter and we have made a significant step forward now.

“I am acutely aware that this legislation has been a particular focus of public interest and attention here at home and I look forward to hearing the views of Oireachtas colleagues and key stakeholders on the General Scheme.”

ENDS

Press Office

25 June 2025

In its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) identified a range of obligations arising for states, including a duty of distinguishing in dealings with Israel between its own territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Among other things, the ICJ considered that this encompassed an obligation:

• to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the OPT (or any part of it) which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory;
• to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the OPT.

Last week the Tánaiste joined colleagues from Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden in calling upon the European Commission to develop proposals for concrete measures to ensure compliance by the Union with the obligations identified by the ICJ in its Advisory Opinion, including to initiate discussions on how to effectively discontinue trade of goods and services with the illegal settlements. The Tánaiste has consistently raised this issue at EU level, most recently at the Foreign Affairs Council on 23 June.

Pending an adequate response at EU level and in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government to progress legislation prohibiting import of goods from the settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory following the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024, the Government has published the General Scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill.

The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Any such importation will thereby become an offence under the Customs Act 2015, and the prohibition created by the Bill will also then engage the customs powers under that Act, including those relating to search, seizure and forfeiture.

The scheme proposes to use the Israeli settlement postal code system currently employed by the EU in differentiating Israeli goods from settlement goods in order to identify goods of settlement origin for the purposes of the new Bill.

The General Scheme will now be referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for Pre-Legislative Scrutiny.