I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4555 

To clarify the application of section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as 

it relates to articles from areas of the West Bank and Gaza that are 

not administered by Israel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2016 

Mr. LAMBORN (for himself, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. DESANTIS, Mr. FRANKS of 

Arizona, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. ZELDIN, Mrs. BLACK, Mr. ROSS, Mr. WALKER, and Mr. 

COOK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To clarify the application of section 304 of the Tariff Act 

of 1930 as it relates to articles from areas of the West 

Bank and Gaza that are not administered by Israel. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Non-Discrimination 

5 of Israel in Labeling Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Prior to the issuance of Trade Directive 

2 (T.D.) 95–25 and T.D. 97–16, the Customs Service 

3 had taken the position that, in order for the country 

4 of origin marking of a good which was produced in 

5 the West Bank or Gaza Strip to be considered ac6 ceptable, the word ‘‘Israel’’ must appear in the 

7 marking designation. 

8 (2) The Department of State advised the De9 partment of Treasury that, in view of certain devel10 opments, principally the Israeli-PLO Declaration of 

11 Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrange12 ments (signed on September 13, 1993), also known 

13 as the Oslo Accords, the primary purpose of section 

14 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304) 

15 would be best served if goods produced in the West 

16 Bank and Gaza Strip under the Palestinian interim 

17 self-government were permitted to be marked ‘‘West 

18 Bank’’ or ‘‘Gaza Strip’’. 

19 (3) The Oslo Accords created a new self-rule 

20 entity, an interim self-governing Palestinian council, 

21 granting it the authority to independently conduct 

22 its affairs, including financial matters such as im23 port and export. 

24 (4) On March 17, 1995, President Clinton 

25 signed Presidential Proclamation 6788 designating 


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1 the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a beneficiary of 

2 the generalized system of preferences program. 

3 (5) The United States Customs Border Protec4 tion Cargo Systems Messaging Service guidance 

5 dated March 28, 1995, stated: ‘‘The extension of the 

6 generalized system of preferences program to the 

7 West Bank and Gaza Strip pursuant to this Presi8 dential Proclamation applies only to goods produced 

9 in the areas for which arrangements are being estab10 lished for Palestinian interim self-government, as set 

11 forth in Articles I, III, and IV of the Declaration of 

12 Principles on Interim Self-Government arrange13 ments.’’. 

14 (6) The March 28, 1995, guidance further ar15 ticulated Articles IV and V of the Declaration of 

16 Principles on Interim Self-Government arrange17 ments, stating: ‘‘It is understood that: Jurisdiction 

18 of the Council will cover West Bank and Gaza Strip 

19 territory, except for issues that will be negotiated in 

20 the permanent status negotiations: Jerusalem, settle21 ments, military location, and Israelis.’’. 

22 (7) It is the longstanding policy of the United 

23 States to oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel. 


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1 (8) The first free trade agreement by the 

2 United States was between the United States and 

3 Israel, effective September 1, 1985. 

4 (9) The United States-Israel Strategic Partner5 ship is a vital asset to United States national, eco6 nomic, and security interests and any boycott, or 

7 sanctions effort, or policy that serves to delegitimize 

8 or discriminate against Israel will ultimately harm 

9 United States economic interests. 

10 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL MARKINGS OF IMPORTED ARTICLES 

11 AND CONTAINERS FROM THE WEST BANK 

12 AND GAZA STRIP. 

13 (a) ARTICLES OF WEST BANK.—For purposes of sec14 tion 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304), every 

15 article of origin of the geographical area known as the 

16 West Bank (or the container of any such article) imported 

17 into the United States shall be marked in accordance with 

18 the requirements of such section, which— 

19 (1) in the case of an article of an area not ad20 ministered by Israel in the West Bank, shall include 

21 the words ‘‘West Bank’’; and 

22 (2) in the case of an article of an area adminis23 tered by Israel in the West Bank, shall include the 

24 words ‘‘Israel’’, ‘‘Made in Israel’’, or ‘‘Product of 

25 Israel’’. 


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1 (b) ARTICLES OF GAZA STRIP.—For purposes of sec2 tion 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304), every 

3 article of origin of the geographical area known as the 

4 Gaza Strip (or the container of any such article) imported 

5 into the United States shall be marked in accordance with 

6 the requirements of such section, and shall include the 

7 words ‘‘Gaza’’ or ‘‘Gaza Strip’’. 

8 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of 

9 the Treasury or any other competent Federal official (or 

10 the official’s designee) may not prohibit the use of any 

11 of the markings specified in subsections (a) and (b) for 

12 purposes of satisfying the applicable requirements under 

13 section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to arti14 cles of the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

16 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 

17 with respect to articles imported into the United States 

18 on or after such date of enactment. 

Æ 


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