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The European Union plans to step up its anti-Israel boycott measures and require farmers based beyond the Green Line to clearly label produce as coming from “the occupied territories,” Israel Hayom learned Thursday.

Farmers in the Jordan Valley were recently informed by two companies that export their produce to the EU that the new directive will take effect in mid April.

One Israeli exporter told Israel Hayom that since the EU made the decision to label settlement products, many clients across Europe have made arrangements to implement the directives.

EU guidelines have left the exact nature of product labeling to the discretion of each member state. For the most part, settlement products imported to the EU are repackaged upon arrival at their destination, and a small sticker is added indicating the West Bank as the goods’ point of origin.

According to the exporter, he was recently approached by several German supermarket chains which told him that Israeli manufacturers must now label their products prominently to indicate to consumers that they were “manufactured in territories occupied by the Israeli government.”

Some German clients have decided to cease importing settlement goods altogether, he said.

Israel Hayom has learned that last week, the Dutch Agriculture Ministry informed importers that settlement products must be clearly labeled before leaving Israel.

“This is a purely anti-Semitic decision. This is because we’re Jews. This is an act of humiliation, and they [the EU] are trying to make it look like we’re occupiers and land thieves,” David Elhayani, the head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, told Israel Hayom.

Elhayani urged the government to take immediate steps to prevent the draconian labeling directive, suggesting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lead the efforts on the matter.

Yehuda Reines, from Moshav Mehola in the Jordan Valley, who exports herbs and spices mainly to the EU, said that within weeks losses could amount to hundreds of thousands of shekels.

“In the long run, the damage could be devastating,” he said, adding that the issue must be addressed at the government level.

“This is the State of Israel, and we’re not squatters,” he said, adding that he and other farmers know they may soon have no choice but to relocate their greenhouses to farms within the Green Line.

“It may sound defeatist, but this is our livelihood. What can we do?” he said.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel’s office issued a statement saying: “Product labeling and the boycott of Israeli products by European countries and companies are reprehensible, and reek of anti-Semitism. Their [the EU’s] hypocrisy screams to high heaven. They are ‘very concerned’ with peace in the Middle East and they make sure to label Israeli products, while rushing to make deals with Iran, the terrorism power.”

Ariel said boycotting and labeling Israeli products “is foolish, as it hurts Palestinians as much as it does Israelis. Palestinian workers will lose their jobs because of the hateful steps taken by the Europeans. I suggest the same Europeans open the history books to learn about the Jewish people’s heritage.”