Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer: “I am proud to lead the reform of agriculture that opens the fruit and vegetable market to competition in import, in an informed and calculated manner, in parallel with an unprecedented investment of about NIS 2.7 billion in Israeli agriculture. We are committed to promoting food security for Israeli citizens and we invest many resources. “That the contacts with Costa Rica have matured into another import agreement, and we will continue to increase competition in the agricultural produce market for the benefit of all Israeli citizens.”
First import agreement with the approval of the reform in agriculture: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, signed a bilateral agreement with Costa Rica, as part of which an import approval of the particularly popular tropical fruit, the pineapple, was approved. This, after a process of assessing lesion risks, conducted in the Plant Protection and Auditing Services of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the Plant Protection Authority of the Ministry of Agriculture of Costa Rica, and subject to conditions that will ensure the import of disease-free fruit.
The year 2021 broke many records, and did not miss the field of agriculture either. Thus, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, during the past year more than 4,200 tons of pineapple have been imported from Kenya from the Dominican Republic in about 575 shipments; An increase of about 95% in fruit imports compared to 2020. In order to meet the demand for pineapples, and to encourage a drop in prices, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is opening the market to another source of imports for pineapples, Costa Rica.
This agreement was signed and implemented alongside the reform of agriculture, led by the Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer, and the CEO, Naama Kaufman-Pess, in order to strengthen Israeli agriculture, along with taking steps to reduce the cost of living and assimilate competition in the fruit and vegetable industry. An order concerning the reduction of tariffs on fruits and vegetables, and intended to increase competition in the agricultural produce market in Israel. Empty, with which the bilateral agreement was recently signed.
As with the two existing agreements, with Kenya and the Dominican Republic, the new agreement with Costa Rica includes an extensive chapter dealing with Israel’s plant protection, which sets out strict import requirements to prevent lesions from entering the country. Meanwhile, inspectors from the Costa Rican Plant Protection Authority will oversee all stages of growth, including pre-approval and pre-registration of habitat plots and packing houses, field inspection and monitoring, and conducting preliminary inspections prior to shipping.
Beyond that, the shipments that arrive in Israel will be inspected again by the Ministry of Agriculture’s plant protection inspectors stationed at the ports of entry into Israel, as is the practice of importing fresh produce, to make sure they are free from pests and diseases that can cause irreversible damage to agriculture and biodiversity.