In an effort to encourage food imports and lower prices on Israeli supermarket shelves, the Chief Rabbinate has decided to exempt importers from presenting a certificate of supervision from a recognized local kashrut agency as a condition for receiving a kosher stamp in the country.
The decision was made by the Chief Rabbinate's Rabbinical Council, after its members approved a proposal by the council president, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, who called for the rabbinate to dabble in a kind of "industrial espionage" to ensure the products are indeed kosher.
The Chief Rabbinate's main motive is to bypass manufacturers who often prevent competition in the local market.
The so-called "cornflakes reform" initiative was launched about four years ago, and pledged to remove legal, regulatory and other barriers to imports, which had preserved an ongoing monopoly by exclusive importers and local manufacturers.
Until the reform, a products from a brand such as Coca-Cola could not be imported to Israel because a local franchise holder already produced the company's products, thereby preventing competition that could have lowered prices.
Today, however, the soft drink giant's products can be purchased from another official manufacturer abroad and imported to Israel.
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Customers queue outside a supermarket in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak
(Photo: AP)
The reform, however, did not take into account products' kashrut certification, almost completely torpedoing the prospect of parallel imports to Israel, as the law states that imported products cannot be marketed as kosher without authorization from the Chief Rabbinate.
Official importers usually obtain these certificates quite easily, because they usually have a certification from kosher agencies abroad who oversee the production process to make sure it complies with Jewish dietary law.
Parallel importers, on the other hand, find it difficult to obtain these certificates as manufacturers usually prohibit independent inspectors in their factories, so that they can eliminate competition by having a sole importer who can charge a higher price.
About two years ago, the Rabbinate announced an experimental move to waive its requirement for a kosher certificate for some products and instead promised to use the official importers' own kosher supervisors to evaluate the production process.
But it soon became clear that they too were committed to the commercial interests of the manufacturers who employ them as they often refused to provide information that might encourage competition and end their monopoly.
According to the recently approved decision, the Chief Rabbinate will completely bypass the manufacturers by using private external parties to gather information on the raw materials and production procedures.
The Chief Rabbinate will also utilize the assistance of global experts in the field to determine whether or not a product is kosher - without any need for first-hand supervision.
Rabbi Yosef, who led the move, initially encountered opposition within the Rabbinical Council, yet insisted the move was of grave public importance and instrumental in fighting the high cost of living in the country.