ALLEGATIONS THAT THE PERMIT PROCESS FOR GAZA

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001706

SIPDIS

NEA FOR IPA, NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR, JOINT STAFF FOR SELVA,
STATE PASS USAID FOR BORODIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2014
TAGS: ECON ETRD KWBG PREL GZ IS
SUBJECT: ALLEGATIONS THAT THE PERMIT PROCESS FOR GAZA
DISCRIMINATES AGAINST PALESTINIAN FIRMS

Classified By: Consul General Daniel Rubinstein, for reasons 1.4 b,d.


1. (C) Summary. A long-standing ConGen contact and supplier
of agricultural products to Gaza, Rami Sabi, has requested
USG assistance to secure a permit to allow him to keep
shipping to Gaza. Since June, he has been unable to secure
one of two needed Israeli permits for his goods, despite the
fact that Israeli suppliers apparently are able to ship the
same products to the same customer in Gaza. Sabi complained
to EconOffs that the cutoff of his shipments has cost him
significant revenue and appears solely designed to benefit an
Israeli company. End summary.


2. (SBU) Sabi International, headquartered in the West Bank
city of Qalqiliya, has supplied agricultural products to Gaza
for years. CEO Rami Sabi, a long-standing ConGen contact,
told EconOffs that he routinely shipped products to Gaza
until June. In June, Sabi applied for and received a 45-day
Environment Permit (EP) from COGAT to ship one million USD
worth of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, micronutrients,
and growth regulators for plants and crops to Gaza. Sabi
procured these products from the United States, Japan,
Switzerland, France, and elsewhere in Europe, and delivered
them to his warehouse in Qalqiliya via the Israeli port at
Ashdod. Sabi claims the permit demonstrates GOI security
screening of the product, the West Bank seller, and the Gaza
buyer. He notes that the products remain bottled and sealed
in their original containers and in their GOI-approved sealed
shipping box.


3. (SBU) However, in order to receive the products in Gaza,
Sabi's customer, Suhail Abu Halima and Brothers, must apply
for a Permit to Receive Products (PRP) from the Agriculture
Coordinating Office at Erez. This permit has been denied.
Sabi's efforts to seek support from COGAT have been
unsuccessful to date, though he was able to obtain an
extension for his EP through early October. Sabi claims that
when he asks COGAT why one part of the GOI approved his
shipment, only to have another branch of the same government
deny it, he gets no meaningful response.


4. (C) Sabi reports that his buyer in Gaza, Abu Halima,
continues to receive the identical agricultural products from
Israeli companies. Specifically, he said the Israeli company
"Miltchan" has been able to ship the same pesticide -- a
prominent Japanese-based product called "Evisect S" -- to Abu
Halima, while Sabi's shipments remain blocked. Sabi noted to
EconOffs that his recent permitting difficulties suggest the
permit system is being used to benefit Israeli commercial
interests, at his expense.
RUBINSTEIN