Blocking Bezalel Smotrich's car at the entrance to Channel 14/according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law
Economy Minister Nir Barkat is promoting lightning legislation that will prevent price increases during the war, this in light of the sequence of significant price increases announced by the major food companies in Israel.
Vala learned that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is trying to torpedo Barkat's proposal and is delaying putting it to a government vote.
Around Barkat they say that this is a necessary law against the "pigs" of the big food companies who raise prices during a war.
They also added that there is no practical reason to raise prices in this period when the prices of inputs have not increased, which sharpens the failure of the market and the need for intervention to prevent public fraud.
In the letter that Minister Barkat sent to Netanyahu and Smotritz he wrote: "With the outbreak of the war and after cases were discovered in which businesses took advantage of the circumstances of the state of emergency, I instructed the professionals in my office to promote a bill that would give the Consumer Protection Authority the authority and tools to deal with the exploitation of the plight of consumers during war, and unfair price increases .
Barkat and Smotrich.
The Minister of the Economy against the Minister of Finance/Photo processing, Nega Salma/L.A.M
Accordingly, and after strenuous staff work that included discussions and agreements with the deputy legal adviser to the government, the bill in question was prepared, the main purpose of which is to allow the commissioner of the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority to issue an order to stop the violation to a dealer who sells an essential service or a product whose price is significantly higher than the price The average of the same product or service, in the three months preceding the day of the declaration of the state of emergency, as sold by that dealer.
"In the event that the same product or service was not sold by that dealer before, the price will be examined in relation to the average price of the product or service in the three months preceding the declaration of the state of emergency, at other dealers or in relation to products with similar characteristics at him and at others.
"As long as the dealer does not comply For the order requesting the cessation of the violation, the commissioner has the authority to impose a financial sanction for violating the order of a commissioner."
Barkat also added that the treasury is the one delaying the essential law and in fact this is how the latest price increase was caused. "At the end of October, after the deadline for public comments on the memorandum, I demanded to raise the bill for approval by the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs.
Due to the Treasury's opposition to the bill, the Minister of Justice was not ready to bring it up for discussion and voting in the committee.
Every attempt to reach and talk with them in order to explain the importance and urgency of promoting the law during this period was unsuccessful.
"Unfortunately, due to the fact that we were not given the authority, there have been cases of businesses taking advantage of the situation and harming citizens. Moreover, in recent times we have witnessed significant price increases for many products, and we have the responsibility as a government to act with all the means at our disposal to deal with the cost of living, within this framework It is necessary to urgently advance a series of laws, including the aforementioned bill," Barkat wrote and concluded: "In light of the above, I will ask to raise and approve the bill in the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs this coming Sunday."
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Nir Barkat