Shortly before the vote on the revocation of the honey and egg orders in the Knesset plenum, agreements were reached between the farmers, the Knesset members involved and the Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer, through the mediation of Prime Minister Yair Pines regarding the laying industry.
But despite the agreements reached, members of the opposition voted in favor of repealing the orders – and in the absence of a majority in the government, customs orders on eggs and honey fell on Kol – 46 to 47. MKs Michael Bitton and Nir Orbach were absent from the vote.
As for the reform in the fruit and vegetable industry, negotiations will continue next week in another meeting on Tuesday in an attempt to reach a comprehensive agreement that will produce a consensus reform in agriculture. Before the vote in the Knesset, the leaders of the coalition’s struggle against the orders, led by Ram Shefa, Ram Ben Barak and Alon Schuster, welcomed the agreements, as did those who mediated behind the scenes. “
Yesterday the opposition dropped the customs order on e-cigarettes, today the order on the eggs.
Farmers should take the agreements signed with them today with a limited guarantee, since the government does not have the ability to pass legislation in the plenum.
– Shirit Avitan Cohen (@Shiritc) June 15, 2022
Dubi Amitai, chairman of the Farmers’ Association and president of the business sector, and one of the significant factors on the part of the farmers in the negotiations, said tonight that “after lengthy negotiations for several weeks, agreements were reached today between representatives of the agricultural leadership and the Minister of Agriculture.” Next, the agricultural leadership will convene to discuss the approval of these agreements. It will be emphasized that with regard to the fruit and vegetable industry, the parties have not yet reached an agreement.
Chairman of the Israel Agricultural Association and Secretary General of the Moshavim Movement, Amit Yifrach, one of the leaders in the negotiations: “Israeli agriculture maintains food security and local production alongside national security. The agreement we reached with the state, and will be signed in the coming hours, maintains planning in the laying industry for at least another 13 years, providing adequate compensation to retirees from the industry and farmers who want to invest in upgrading the chicken coops. We will continue to stand firm for and for the farmers and we will now fight together with the agricultural leadership for striving for proper agreements for the plant industry as well. “
There will be an immediate reduction in customs duties on eggs to 15 cents
According to the agreements in the laying industry, which are intended to prevent further embarrassment for the government, the planning in the laying industry will be completed within 10 years, there will be an immediate reduction of customs duties on eggs to 15 cents and at the end of the planning an order will be approved. The agreement also stipulates that NIS 300 million will be invested in towers that remain in the industry and for towers in cages without cages, an additional NIS 80 million will be allocated, if necessary, in the matching of 40% government and 60% private sector. It was also agreed that the Ministry of Agriculture will offer quota redemption to those leaving the industry, at a price of NIS 1.5 per egg, and according to criteria, exceptional committees will be established to examine spot events.
Negotiations have been going on intensively since this morning and many parties in the agriculture and Knesset have taken part, although many agreements have been reached in the field of agriculture – no broad agreement has been reached that will allow a solemn declaration of consensus reform in the fruit and vegetable industry.
Next week, the issue of honey, on which agreements have not yet been reached, will also be discussed, and later the overall reform will reach the table of the Economics Committee, since there are many legislative amendments. It can also be said that a third of the Bitton crisis has been resolved today regarding the reform of agriculture and the issue that has not yet been resolved is the reform of public transportation prices because the Minister of Transportation Michaeli refuses to sit at the negotiating table.
As mentioned, the changes in agriculture are going through legislation in the Knesset, but there does not seem to be a chance that this coalition will complete the task in light of the fact that it no longer has a majority in the Knesset and the government’s days are few due to frequent crises.