Dubai Ports World Participates in Arab Boycott of Israel

From Vital Perspectives:

Dubai Ports World, the company involved in the UAE port deal, participates in the Arab boycott against Israel.

"Yes, of course the boycott is still in place and is still enforced," Muhammad Rashid a-Din, a staff member of the Dubai Customs Department's Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview. U.S. law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel. The U.S. Department of Commerce lists the UAE anti-Israel boycott requirement as a "prohibited boycott condition in an invitation to bid" under examples of boycott requests from the UAE that has been reported to the Office of Antiboycott Compliance. The "prohibited boycott condition" reads:

"Documents to accompany tenders [include] the declaration and Israel boycott certificate. It states the tenderer must accompany his offer with the following, written signed declaration. "We declare that we are a company which is not owned by any companies that have violated the approved rules of the boycott and that we do not own or participate in companies that are in violation of the approved rules of the boycott. Further, we do not have, nor does any of the companies that are considered to be a parent company or a branch of ours, any dealings with any Israeli party, whether directly or indirectly." Furthermore, a certificate issued by the Israel boycott office in UAE confirming that neither the supplier nor the manufacturer are blacklisted, should also be accompanied."

In one instance, according to a Department of Commerce press release, a New York-based exporter paid a $13,500 fine for violating the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The antiboycott provisions of the EAR prohibit U.S. persons from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned foreign boycotts, including furnishing information about business relationships with or in Israel. In addition, the EAR requires that U.S. persons report their receipt of certain boycott requests to the Department of Commerce.

Importers to the UAE, however, need to comply with the terms of the boycott. In the Frequently Asked Questions area of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area website, six documents are listed that are required in order to clear an item through the Dubai Customs Department. One of them, called a Certificate of Origin, " is used by customs to confirm the country of origin and needs to be seen by the office which ensures any trade boycotts are enforced ."