Butter
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Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, in coordination with Agriculture Minister Oded Forer, on Thursday signed an order permanently abolishing tariffs on butter products in order to prevent shortages and continue to reduce the cost of living.

The order includes a complete and permanent abolition of tariffs on butter products for consumers, and a temporary exemption for butter for industry until the end of 2022.

Due to the severe shortage of butter products, tariffs on butter imports were abolished from March 2020 by temporary order until the end of 2021. The abolition of the tariffs stopped the shortage in stores and increased butter consumption in Israel by about 50%. In addition, the abolition of tariffs increased the range of butter products on store shelves by 30%, and reduced the price level by about 13%.

As for local agriculture, during the period when the exemption was in place, local production was unharmed, and the production of local butter even increased by about 11%.

The abolition of the regular tariffs will ensure a regular supply of butter to consumers and prevent shortages, along with the expectation of expanding the range of products and continuing to reduce the prices.

Liberman said that "the abolition of tariffs on butter imports solved the problem of severe shortages of butter products which lasted more than a year. Today we see that the abolition of tariffs greatly helped the consumer through increasing consumption, increasing the variety of products and lowering the price, all without harming local agriculture. Today we stipulate that the tariffs will be abolished on a regular basis so that the public can continue to enjoy a variety of available butter products at a low price. We intend to continue to work, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, to reduce tariffs on agricultural products in order to lower the cost of living for the benefit of the Israeli consumer."

Forer added, "We see how with full agreement, it is possible to abolish tariffs on butter imports and solve the problem of shortage of butter products, along with increasing consumption and lowering prices. We will continue to act in this way, by way of agreements in all branches of agriculture, for the benefit of the farmers and for all the citizens of the State of Israel."