Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat.
The important law has passed, the test will be in enforcement (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Today, the government approved the proposal of Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat to apply a continuous law to the bill aimed at preventing damage to the corresponding import.
The amendment to the law was formulated under the professional leadership of the Competition Authority.
The new law approved by the government today will prohibit direct importers from performing the following acts:
1. An act as a result of which parallel imports may be harmed and therefore competition in the industry may be harmed.
2. An act whose main purpose is prevention or reduction of competition from parallel imports.
This prohibition does not focus on the possible impact of the act on competition in the relevant industry, but on the purpose of the act.
That is, any act whose main purpose is the prevention or reduction of parallel imports is prohibited according to the bill.
The bill lists types of acts that may, under certain circumstances, be prohibited, among them - stipulation of commercial terms, changing commercial terms, refusal to supply or reporting on goods originating from parallel imports in a way that allows monitoring of the supply chain of those goods.
According to the wording, for a violation of the law, the competition commissioner will be entitled to impose financial sanctions in the amount of up to 8% of the company's turnover, up to a maximum amount of approximately NIS 100 million.
The amount of the financial sanctions will be calculated according to the circumstances of the case, and mainly the degree of damage to competition inherent in the violation.
Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat
: "I congratulate the government for approving the important proposal that will make it possible to increase competition in imports. Unfortunately, Israeli citizens have become accustomed to paying much more for products in Europe that cost much less. Part of the problem is a lack of competition and centralization of imports. Prime Minister Netanyahu, Minister of Finance Smotritz and I will fight and will not allow the oppression of the citizens of Israel."
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