The Israeli ministry of agriculture is targeting its efforts on lowering regulation in the import sector in 2016. The government hopes that significant price decreases for consumers can be achieved by lowering costs for importers.
Shortening the import process will have an especially meaningful impact on the prices of products which don’t have considerable production in Israel. One such example is pineapple, which is a popular summer fruit in Israel, but is routinely sold at very high prices due to limited supply. There have been many attempts to initiate new import of pineapple, specifically from Thailand, in order to satisfy the high demand, however no new imports have been successful due to the long bureaucratic process.
One of the main impediments on importers is the very long application time for any new import of fruits or vegetables. The process includes several separate committee approvals concerning the environmental and health safety of the produce, as well as economic considerations regarding impact on local producers. All together this process can take several years.
The Israeli government hopes that its efforts can allow pineapple imports from Thailand and other sources as soon as the summer of 2016. Additionally, there is hope that decreased regulation can open up import markets for many other fruits and vegetables.
