הצעת חוק לתיקון פקודת היבוא והיצוא (מס' 6), התשפ"ד-2024Bill to Amend the Import and Export Ordinance (No. 6), 2024 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

What was put to the vote

«לקבל את הצעת החוק בקריאה שלישית»

Third reading: The final vote. A bill that passes its third reading becomes law. Glossary →

Bill: חוק לתיקון פקודת היבוא והיצוא (מס' 6), התשפ"ד-2024Law to Amend the Import and Export Ordinance (No. 6), 2024auto

About the law and the debate

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

Following legislative amendments enacted in recent years with the aim of removing barriers to the import of goods subject to an official standard, the law eases the conditions required for importing such goods, which do not belong to the group comprising goods at the highest level of hazard. The Import and Export Order [New Version], 1979, specifies four groups of goods according to the level of hazard of the goods, and based on this classification the level of regulation applicable to the import of the goods is determined. Thus, the higher the group in which the goods are ranked in terms of hazard level, the stricter the regulation that will apply to them. Most goods currently imported into Israel do not belong to the group at the highest hazard level (group No. 1) but rather to groups of goods at medium and low hazard levels (groups No. 2 and 3, respectively). As part of the law, several legislative amendments were made to the Import and Export Ordinance regarding groups of goods at levels 2 and 3, as detailed below: 1. Regarding products that do not belong to group No. 1, the importer will not be required to submit a declaration to the Standards Commissioner (hereinafter – the Commissioner) in order to release the goods from customs supervision. Instead of the obligation to submit a declaration to the Commissioner, the importer will be obligated to hold a declaration stating that an official standard applies to the imported goods and that they meet the standard's requirements, including that the required laboratory tests have been performed regarding the goods' model. As a result of the law, the importer will be exempt from approaching a testing laboratory in order to import these goods. The declaration will be kept in a product file to be submitted upon request, when supervision is carried out, whether the supervision is conducted as part of sampling a shipment at the port or whether the supervision is conducted in the markets. 2. It was established that, in addition to the customs representative, a representative of the Commissioner will also be present at customs offices to assist in determining the risk level of imported goods, from which the decision whether to sample a shipment of goods at the port is derived. 3. In order to streamline the exercise of the Commissioner's powers, it was established that the Customs Director, or a Tax Authority employee authorized by the Customs Director for this purpose, will provide the Commissioner, or a Ministry of Economy and Industry employee authorized by the Commissioner for this purpose, with any information or document required by the Commissioner for exercising his powers regarding imported goods or regarding importers of goods. 4. Under the Import and Export Ordinance prior to the law's commencement, every new importer wishing to import into Israel a product subject to an official standard was required to register in the importers' registry before beginning the import process. In light of the expanded cooperation between the Commissioner and Customs as described above in sections 2 and 3, it was decided to cancel the importers' registry maintained by the Commissioner. 5. The Standards Commissioner was authorized by the law to establish, in his directives, provisions regarding the obligation of testing laboratories to publish models of goods for which they have granted model approvals. As a result of publishing model approvals, importers will be able to choose not to conduct a model test for importing the goods, and instead may perform a comparison test against the approved model – a test significantly cheaper than a model test. 6. A temporary provision was established in the law whereby all importers importing products that do not belong to group No. 1 will be granted an exemption from the obligation to hold certain documents in a product file. These are documents that parallel importers often have difficulty obtaining. Since this is a significant change whose implications should be examined, it was decided that the temporary provision will apply for one year, and the Minister of Economy and Industry will be authorized to extend it by order, with the approval of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, for additional periods not exceeding, cumulatively, one additional year. 7. It was decided to allow an importer, under certain circumstances, to declare that the imported goods meet only part of the standardization requirements and that compliance with the remaining requirements will be completed after import and before the goods are marketed. 8. The list of documents by which an importer can prove the conformity of imported goods with the requirements of an international standard and foreign regulation was expanded. 9. It was established that an importer who approaches an authorized body, as detailed in the law, to review the product file on his behalf, will be entitled to a significant reduction of 40% in the amount of the financial sanction that the Standards Commissioner may impose on him, if it turns out that, despite the preliminary review, there is a defect in the product file. 10. In order to increase transparency, it was established that the Commissioner will publish to the public, annually, a report regarding the supervision and enforcement actions carried out in the previous year for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the Ordinance and the Standards Law.

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