diff --git a/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/assets/embl-taxonomy-edit-tags.css b/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/assets/embl-taxonomy-edit-tags.css
index c36b9cb1b..f7c6fa4f4 100644
--- a/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/assets/embl-taxonomy-edit-tags.css
+++ b/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/assets/embl-taxonomy-edit-tags.css
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@
   padding: 2px 5px;
   background-color: #E58F9E;
 }
+.statusHidden  {
+  width: fit-content;
+  padding: 2px 5px;
+  background-color: #D0D0CE;
+}
 
 
 
diff --git a/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/register.php b/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/register.php
index 1fbb8fa06..cc7952299 100644
--- a/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/register.php
+++ b/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/register.php
@@ -95,8 +95,16 @@ public function embl_taxonomy_column_content($content, $column_name, $term_id) {
     //   $content = '<code>' . get_term_meta($term_id, EMBL_Taxonomy::META_NAME, true) . '</code>';
     } elseif ($column_name === 'embl_taxonomy_meta_deprecated') {
       $deprecatedValue = get_term_meta($term_id, EMBL_Taxonomy::META_DEPRECATED, true);
-      $statusClass = $deprecatedValue == '1' ? 'statusDeprecated' : 'statusActive';
-      $statusText = $deprecatedValue == '1' ? 'Deprecated' : 'Active';
+      $excludeTerms = get_field('field_embl_taxonomy_exclude', 'option'); // Get excluded terms
+  
+      // Check if the current term is in the excluded terms
+      if (in_array($term_id, $excludeTerms)) {
+          $statusClass = 'statusHidden';
+          $statusText = 'Hidden';
+      } else {
+          $statusClass = $deprecatedValue == '1' ? 'statusDeprecated' : 'statusActive';
+          $statusText = $deprecatedValue == '1' ? 'Deprecated' : 'Active';
+      }
       
       $content = '<p class="' . $statusClass . '">' . $statusText . '</p>';
   }
@@ -140,6 +148,7 @@ public function register_taxonomy() {
         'hierarchical'      => false,
         'public'            => $is_news_theme,  // true only for the news theme
         'show_ui'           => true,
+        'meta_box_cb'       => false,
         'show_in_menu'      => true,
         'show_admin_column' => true,
         'show_in_rest'      => true,
diff --git a/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/settings.php b/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/settings.php
index 6f838feed..7aacb0628 100644
--- a/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/settings.php
+++ b/wp-content/plugins/embl-taxonomy/includes/settings.php
@@ -139,6 +139,34 @@ function acf_init() {
       )
     );
 
+    acf_add_local_field(
+      array(
+        'parent' => 'group_embl_taxonomy_setings',
+        'key' => 'field_embl_taxonomy_exclude',
+        'label' => 'Exclude terms',
+        'name' => 'embl_taxonomy_exclude',
+        'type' => 'taxonomy',
+        'instructions' => 'Select terms that should by excluded by taxonomy sync',
+        'required' => 0,
+        'conditional_logic' => 0,
+        'wrapper' => array(
+          'width' => '',
+          'class' => '',
+          'id' => '',
+        ),
+        'taxonomy' => 'embl_taxonomy',
+        'add_term' => 0,
+        'save_terms' => 0,
+        'load_terms' => 0,
+        'return_format' => 'id',
+        'field_type' => 'multi_select',  // Changed to multi_select for multiple selections
+        'allow_null' => 1,
+        'bidirectional' => 0,
+        'multiple' => 1,  // Set to 1 to allow multiple selections
+        'bidirectional_target' => [],
+      )
+    );
+
         // New field group specifically for Deprecated checkbox
         acf_add_local_field_group(array(
           'key' => 'group_embl_taxonomy_deprecated',