Israel Reducing Barriers Of Food Imports

Tel Aviv [Israel]: Israel’s Ministry of Health published Sunday the principles of the outline for deepening the food reforms in the country with an emphasis on removing import barriers.

The ministry said that in recent years many steps have been promoted in the field, including the opening of parallel imports of regular foods, the adoption of EU regulations regarding food safety (chemical pollutants, microbiological pollutants, and pesticide residues), the cancellation of the formality of dozens of Israeli standards in the food field, and the addition of ” The European route” in importing “sensitive” food.

At the center of the outline, said the ministry, is the main mission of the National Food Service to ensure that the level of quality, integrity, and safety of the food produced, marketed in Israel, and imported to Israel will be adequate, and this, “in accordance with the regulations accepted in developed countries, including accepted international standards and supervision based on risk management, all with the aim of enabling Availability and accessibility of a variety of food at reasonable costs to the general public, while maintaining public health,” as stipulated in the Food Law.

This is also part of efforts to reduce the high cost of living in Israel which includes prices for food products that are higher than in Europe.