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Located close to the tiny agricultural moshav of Sapir, the Edom UK packinghouse is a new one. There is a plaque inside the building, donated by Valley Grown Salads and Glinwell PLC, presented to Edom UK at the opening of the packinghouse on the 26th of October 2009. From this location, where the produce come from the nearby Moshavs, they mainly export peppers, but according to one worker, also handle some cherry tomatoes. Confirmed destinations for produce from this location are Europe -including the UK- USA and Russia, with only 13% going to the local Israeli market. 87% of prooduce is reserved for the international market, particularly the UK. The Israeli workers in Sapir said that there are several smaller Edom UK packinghouses in other locations, which were used before the opening of this one and continue to operate now.
A large proportion of the workers at EDOM’s Sapir packing house are Thai migrant workers.
On a second visit to the Edom settlement location inside Tomer, we found evidence that poses serious questions both about Edom’s business and UK imports of Israeli produce overall. As we knew from our interview with Palestinian workers on a previous visit (see

Also present inside the premises of Edom were boxes and labels for Amit Agro-Fresh (sweet peppers), Kedem Hadeklaim (organic bell peppers), Gilad Produce Ltd (organic bell peppers) and Red Sea Organics. Inside the Edom building, where workers were busy preparing produce for export, some boxes being filled were labelled with the Edom logo and some with the label of R.S.O Organic (Red Sea Organics). The R.S.O label, which was for boxes carrying cherry tomatoes, carried a logo of certification from Agrior, the Israeli certifier for organic produce and was accredited by IFOAM, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. The labels also bear the embllem of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture. They stated “PRODUCE OF ISRAEL” despite being grown and packaged in the occupied Jordan Valley. The Israeli Agrior are trusted by British, highly regarded, organic certifiers such as the Soil Association. The Soil Association list Agrior as one of the bodies which they have a subcontracted inspector agreement with, hence allowing them to “inspect to Soil Association Standards on behalf of Soil Association Certification Ltd”. In other words, whatever they say about a product will be accepted as fact and their classification will end up on labels in British shops. The Soil Association have previously confirmed that they rely on Agrior for their Israeli and West Bank produce. Whether or not these particular boxes were headed for Britain, it shows that Israeli companies and certification bodies can not be trusted to tell the truth about settlement produce.
Glinwell PLC, Smallford Nurseries, Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL4 0HL. Phone 01727 822589
EDOM UK is now on Who Profits at the following link

For proof of Agrior’s Soil Association Status, see
