Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Agriculture Minister Oded Forer refuse to approve the recommendation of the joint price committee for their offices to raise egg prices by 6.5%.
Lieberman addressed the inter-ministerial price committee yesterday and announced that he did not accept her recommendation, and asked her to re-examine the egg price formula for the tower, and then pass an updated recommendation.
"After consulting with the professionals in the Ministry of Finance and after reading the arguments of the Minister of Agriculture, I decided by virtue of my authority not to accept the recommendation of the Prices Committee," read a letter received by Israel Today.
Lieberman's main argument is that the committee's recommendation is based on a mechanism that has not been examined since 2003. "To date, the Prices Committee has based its calculations on determining the price of the egg to the consumer, among other things, , Without performing a base test for this price.
"Re-examine the cost of the egg per tower"
"The cost of the egg for the tower must be re-examined. In view of the above, I will request that the Prices Committee conduct an examination of this component, and then submit an updated recommendation," the Minister of Finance wrote.
The price of edible eggs in Israel is monitored - the price of 12 L-size eggs is currently NIS 11.30, and a 6.5% increase in price will increase the price to NIS 12.05.
Egg prices in Israel are tens of percent higher than in OECD countries.
Caring for eggs for Passover, Photo: Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The committee, which consists of a representative of the Ministry of Finance and a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, recommended an increase in egg prices for consumers as early as June 2021, following the increase in the prices of inputs in egg production, including poultry food.
But since then the ministers have not signed the recommendation, which led the poultry breeders to petition the High Court last December.
In a reply to the High Court filed against the two ministers, Agriculture Minister Forer argued, among other things, that during the agriculture reform negotiations, the poultry farmers proposed that the price of the egg to the consumer should not rise in exchange for leaving planning in the industry.
It should be noted that unlike most other developed countries, the egg economy in Israel is centrally planned - the state determines how many eggs are allowed to be produced, and not beyond that, so in times of peak demand, there is sometimes a shortage of eggs.
In addition, Forer wrote in response to the petition that while breeders seek to raise the price of eggs, egg marketers give discounts to food chains, and these are sold at the maximum price to the consumer.
That is, even when the price of eggs per consumer rises, it is not at all certain that the difference will reach the tower, and may even fund the discounts for supermarkets.
In addition, Lieberman and Forer want the price committee to examine the rates of profit left by growers, marketers and food chains.
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