DURBAN, South Africa, Aug 19 (AFP) - The Non-Aligned Movement on Thursday called on its member states to bar all produce and goods emanating from Israeli settlements at the end of a three-day NAM ministerial conference here.
The appeal for the measures was contained in a declaration, issued by the 116-member organisation's Committee on Palestine in the east coast port city of Durban.
"With regard to member states, the ministers called upon them to undertake measures, including by means of legislation, collectively, regionally and individually, to prevent any products of the illegal Israeli settlements from entering their markets," said the declaration.
The International Court of Justice, the UN's highest legal body, ruled last month that parts of the barrier built on Palestinian land were illegal and should be torn down. The Israeli government has vowed to ignore the non-binding verdict.
The declaration called for its members to "decline entry to Israeli settlers and to impose sanctions against companies and entities involved in the construction of the wall."
Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Nasser al-Kidwa, earlier told journalists the European Union and Switzerland had both already introduced punitive moves against Israel.
Earlier this month, the European Union concluded a trade accord with Israel, saying it had enough safeguards to stop goods made by Jewish settlers from entering the 25-nation EU on preferential terms.
Switzerland was to slap provisional taxes on Israeli exports suspected of coming from Jewish settlements, the Swiss media reported.
"They (the measures) didn't go as far as we wished, but they took a step in the right direction," Kidwa said.
The declaration also called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to speed up work done in regard to a request made by the body's General Assembly to establish a "register of damages" caused by the construction of the wall.
The ministers also expressed their "deep regret that the Road Map (to peace in the region) had yet to be implemented."