Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman intends to unilaterally reduce the caps on fruits and vegetables this week. This is an unusual move, since to this day no finance minister has dared to take a similar step against the agricultural lobby in the Knesset. It was also learned that representatives of the agricultural lobby, headed by the president of the business sector and the president of the Farmers’ Association, Dubi Amitai, tried this weekend to change the evil of the decree in a meeting with Agriculture Minister Oded Forer.
Forer listened and clarified that since the farmers’ representatives had not appointed on their behalf a factor against whom the negotiations would be conducted, there was no choice but to launch the reform unilaterally. The Treasury intends in the first phase to reduce customs duties by 10% on all imported fruits and vegetables.
In the second stage the caps will be reduced by another rate, Until within five years they approach 0%. At the same time, consumers will have the right to know by special marking what the country of import of the fruits and vegetables is, thus enabling them to avoid shopping from ‘problematic’ places for them, such as the territories of the Palestinian Authority or Turkey.
Contrary to what was promised, and since the Minister of Finance is tired, the reform is launched unilaterally, Without at this stage the farmers will receive some compensation like grants for investments in innovation or a gradual reduction of customs rates. The Ministry of Finance is confident that reducing tariffs on fruits and vegetables will encourage imports, and in the long run will lead to a reduction in the cost of living in this area.
Over the weekend, it was decided to unilaterally reduce customs duties on honey as well, without coordination with the agricultural lobby. The agricultural lobby in the Knesset is led by MKs Ram Shefa (Labor) and Yair Golan (Meretz). The opposition of MK Ram Ben Barak (Yesh Atid) is ineffective, because the chairman of his party, Yair Lapid, supports the position of the Minister of Finance.
In response to Maariv’s request, a real message“The unilateral move by the Minister of Finance will not go smoothly and will lead to a rupture. Such a move constitutes a breach of trust with the representatives of the agricultural lobby in the Knesset, and proves that to date negotiations on behalf of the Finance have been conducted in bad faith.”