Ministerial committee on high cost of living short tracks regulation on imported goods

The ministerial committee for tackling the high cost of living unanimously approves a reform under which imported goods that adhere to European quality standards won’t need to undergo additional domestic regulatory standards approval, thereby cutting lengthy bureaucratic processes and lowering costs for consumers.

As part of the “What’s good for Europe is good for Israel” draft reform, the ministerial committee allow imported goods with European quality standards or certification to be automatically standardized, without requiring additional regulatory approval by the Standards Institution of Israel, as is currently the case.

The committee against the high cost of living was summoned at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the progress on the draft legislation of the import reform that is being advanced to lower prices for consumers by forgoing time-consuming local certification processes that drive up costs for importers.

“Today, the government is taking another significant step towards the implementation of the ‘What’s good for Europe is good for Israel’ reform,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich writes in a joined statement. “The fight against the cost of living requires us to correct distorted norms that have been established in Israel for many years and perpetuated the high concentration and control of the monopolies in the market.”

The legislation will facilitate the import of dozens of consumer products, including diapers, washing powder, dishwashing liquid, computers, household appliances, mobile phones, televisions, computers, kitchen appliances, stoves, baby strollers and beds, toys, washing machines and dryers, and glassware and ceramics.

The inter-ministerial committee, which includes Smotrich, and Economy Minister Nir Barkat, was formed to tackle the cost of living, as Israelis battle persistent price increases despite government promises to focus on lowering the cost of living.

Barkat says the reform “will open the Israeli market to real competition and will lower prices.”

“Every family will be able to save NIS 500 a month and NIS 6,000 a year,” Barkat says. “We are opening Israel to tens of thousands of cheap products from Europe, without barriers, without unnecessary standards and without the control of monopolies and cartels.”