Data protection rules published for Israeli settlements import ban

The Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Act 2026 (Data Protection and Information Sharing) Regulations 2026 have been published as S.I. No. 554 of 2026. The instrument sets out measures on data protection and information sharing made under the 2026 Act and appears in Iris Oifigiúil No. 89 of 6 November 2026, at item G-6. A copy of the regulations costs €3.00 and is sold through Government Publications at Mountshannon Road, Kilmainham, Dublin, D08 XA06.

The regulations are the latest building block of an import-prohibition regime that has been assembled in stages since the summer. The parent statute, the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Act 2026, was signed by the President on 23 July 2026 and notified as law in Iris Oifigiúil No. 60 of 28 July 2026. Two further instruments followed in the 15 September 2026 edition of the gazette, bringing the Act into operation and defining both the prohibited locations and the paperwork importers must use.

The 6 November notice describes the purpose of the new regulations in a single line: they “provide for measures regarding data protection and information sharing made pursuant to” the 2026 Act. The gazette entry does not set out operative provisions, schedules or commencement dates.

The instruments already in force

• S.I. No. 471 of 2026 — the Act 2026 (Commencement) Order, which brought the 2026 Act into operation and amended the Customs Act 2015 to allow a right of appeal where an exemption application is rejected by the Revenue Commissioners.
• S.I. No. 472 of 2026 — the Act 2026 (Designation of Postal Codes) Order, which designates the postal codes to which the Act applies, meaning the postcodes treated as prohibited. These correspond to the European Commission’s list of non-eligible locations for preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Association Agreement — in effect, Israeli settlements.
• S.I. No. 473 of 2026 — the Act 2026 (Prescribed Forms) Regulations, which set out the forms and certificates by which an importer may apply for, receive or be denied an exemption when intending to import goods originating in a postcode listed in Schedule II to the Postal Codes Order.

Importers, exemptions and appeals

Taken together, the instruments trace the route an importer must follow: a shipment originating in a designated postcode falls within the prohibition, and relief depends on an exemption application decided by the Revenue Commissioners, supported by the prescribed forms and certificates. The appeal route under the Customs Act 2015 was created specifically to give applicants a remedy where such an exemption is refused, under the amendment made by the commencement order.

The new data protection and information sharing regulations sit on top of that structure. They govern how information generated by the exemption and enforcement process is handled — the element that determines what customs authorities, importers and other bodies can do with the data they hold. The gazette gives no further detail of the safeguards, retention rules or sharing arrangements themselves.

Publication details

The regulations were published alongside a busy tranche of instruments in the same edition, including S.I. No. 553 of 2026 on Oireachtas allowances and facilities, S.I. No. 555 of 2026 on terrorist offences and ISIL and Al-Qaida restrictive measures, and S.I. No. 556 of 2026 on Veterinary Council of Ireland fees. The item carries the gazette reference G-6 and is available in print from Government Publications, telephone 046 942 3100.

What it means

For importers, freight forwarders and customs practitioners, the practical consequence is that the settlement import ban now covers the handling of data as well as the movement of goods, closing the loop opened by the commencement order in September. The regime’s enforcement now rests on three pillars: designated postcodes, prescribed forms with a right of appeal, and the data protection and sharing rules published today.

Source: Iris Oifigiúil, No. 89, 6 November 2026, section I, item G-6 (official reference: S.I. No. 554 of 2026).