Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Agriculture Minister Oded Forer are advancing plans to bring down the price of fruit and vegetables by increasing competition and offering Israelis greater variety at the grocery store. If adopted, the plan is expected to save Israelis 2.7 billion shekels (around $823.6 million) a year.
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Through the plan, which is being promoted within the framework of changes to the 2021-2022 State Budget Law, the Agriculture and Finance Ministries hope to increase competition by gradually cutting taxes on all fruits and vegetables and immediately cutting taxes on specific items, among them eggs, avocados, garlic, peas, pineapples.
As for the egg industry, direct support will be offered to farmers for each egg they produce, for a maximum 40,000 shekels ($12,300) a year. Priority will be given to farmers in the Galilee in an effort to bolster the periphery region. In addition, the government will offer innovation grants to encourage farmers to modernize their chicken coops and collaborate with startups in the field.
The tax cuts are expected to significantly lower fruit and vegetable prices, which have risen over 80% in recent years, as well as to lower the cost of eggs, which have increased around 25%. In total, each Israeli household is expected to save around 840 shekels on produce and eggs each year.
To significantly increase the variety of produce available to the Israeli market, regulations on fruit and vegetable imports would be eased through the adoption of European standards.
The reforms, set to be carried out across five years and assessed annually, would see Israel implement steps recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and serve as a significant step in positioning Israel alongside other OECD member-states.
According to Lieberman, the reforms are aimed at "bolstering the Israeli farmer, while tackling the cost of living and benefiting consumers. The reforms we are leading are mainly aimed at two things: organizing the economy and fighting the [high] cost of living. These two components guide our various moves."
Forer emphasized the planned reforms would be the largest implemented in Israel over the last 30 years.
"With agriculture stagnant for many years, we are shaking it up and embarking on an agricultural revolution, for the consumer, for innovation, and direct growth for farmers." He said: "My worldview on the importance of agriculture is very clear: an anchor for holding onto the land and strengthening settlement as a basis for Israeli citizens' food security and as a national resource."
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