Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel on Sunday unveiled a plan to tackle the high cost of food in Israel, which he hopes to include in the Economic Arrangements Law that passes annually alongside the budget.
The reforms are to focus on the heavily regulated markets for eggs, fish, goat and sheep milk and other agricultural products, using a variety of tools from tightening price controls to easing taxes and obstacles for hiring foreign workers.
Israel’s agricultural groups have long been shielded from competition by government policies, a practice Ariel said he hoped to reduce.
“The public rightly demands reforms that will ease the cost of living, and we are presenting these kinds of reforms today, after years where none were presented,” Ariel said.
The plan envisions the price of eggs gradually falling 15 percent by the end of the decade, while upgrading chicken coops and improving conditions for the animals.
The program, which is estimated to create net savings of NIS 300 million, would also seek to find work alternatives for chicken farmers who will be made redundant over the course of the reforms.