A US-based non-profit legal group has threatened litigation against Britain’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), alleging it has allowed goods from Israeli settlements to enter the UK tariff-free, Sky News reported.

According to a letter sent in July by law firm Leigh Day, representing the Global Echo Litigation Center, agricultural products from Israeli settlements, including those in the occupied West Bank, have been entering the UK in breach of trade rules.

Some goods labelled as Israeli were produced in occupied Palestine, contravening UK guidelines requiring such products to be clearly labelled as originating from settlements to avoid misleading consumers.

Although the UK has a free trade agreement with Israel, Israeli settlement goods do not qualify for preferential tariff treatment.

Citing a four-year investigation by Global Echo, the letter, seen by Sky News, accused HMRC of failing to determine the real source of UK imports, describing the system used to verify the origin of Israeli products as “flawed”.