Pretoria - The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) has reiterated that South Africa is not calling for a boycott of Israeli goods/products.
This follows marches last week by the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Shembe Church to hand over a petition.
The petition was in support of the Israel existence and was against Notice 379 that was issued for public comment by dti Minister Rob Davies regarding the labelling of products alleged to be originating in the Occupied Palestine Territory by Israeli forces.
"The department would like to state that the Notice is not about government calling for a boycott against Israel, but ensuring that consumers in South Africa are provided accurate country of origin information so that they can exercise their own informed choice," dti said.
In terms of the Consumer Act, consumers must be informed of the country of origin of the product, it added.
"South Africa recognises Israel as per United Nations demarcated borders of 1948 until they were disturbed in 1967 during the Six Day War. Furthermore, South Africa is not the first country to call for the appropriate labelling of products emanating from the region. The European Union (12 member states) and the United Kingdom are pioneers in this regard," dti pointed out.
Members of the public have been asked to submit their inputs and comments before 10 July 2012.
The petitions submitted by the ACDP, IFP, and Shembe Church would form part of the inputs in the process leading to a final decision on the matter.
