Import licenses for the West Bank and Gaza, when required, are issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA). The importer must be a trader registered with the PA and must present a pro-forma invoice. The Paris Protocol mandates that the PA must inform the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade of each import request. While the PA may import some items freely, other items are subject to quantitative restrictions (determined by the A1, A2 list) set forth in the Paris Protocol.

Effective January 10, 2018, U.S. exporters to the West Bank are no longer required to provide Israeli authorities a hard copy Certificate of Origin (commonly referred to as the “Green Form” or “Form A”) to qualify for preferential access to the Palestinian market under the U.S.-Israel FTA. Instead, U.S. exporters are required to print and sign a declaration on the invoice regarding U.S. content. American exporters are advised to ensure that they carefully review and understand the language of the FTA’s Rules of Origin Provision before they sign the Invoice Declaration. Please contact Senior Commercial Specialist Assad Barsoum at Assad.Barsoum@trade.gov or phone +972-2-657-2688 to get a copy of the Invoice Declaration guidelines and frequently asked questions.

Some products are subject to testing by the Standards Institute of Israel. In some instances of differing standards, Israeli standards authorities will defer to their Palestinian counterparts on the condition that the importer provides satisfactory assurance that the product(s) in question will remain inside the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel imposes licensing requirements and quantitative restrictions on a wide range of foods and agricultural products. Items subject to quotas – mainly agricultural produce and processed foods – are negotiated annually. The Palestinian share is determined based on estimated consumption requirements and past quota utilization.

All health-related imports, such as food and pharmaceuticals, require approval by both the Israeli Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Ministry of Health, whose standards are nearly identical. However, the Pharmacy Department at the Israeli Ministry of Health has announced that Palestinian pharmaceutical companies are not permitted to import raw materials acting as active ingredients for products that have a single registration in Israel unless the Palestinian companies get approval from the party that registered the related product.