A joint commission of the Israeli ministry of agriculture and ministry of finance has published a proposal to put the prices of fruits and vegetables under government supervision for the first time in the country's history. The proposal will be open for public comment before moving to the Israeli parliament for a vote.
According to the commission's proposal, monitoring prices in the fruits and vegetables sector is necessary due to the conglomeration of supermarket chains and wholesalers.
According to the data provided, the market share of the major players in these sectors has increased to over 50% and has placed too much purchasing power in the hands of the buyers. On top of that, the proposal was put together following a widespread examination which revealed that the profits of those sectors among the supermarket chains are excessively higher than that of other market sectors.
At the core of the problem is the fact that farmers have very little control over the process of marketing their produce under the current market conditions. The proposal will aim to monitor the prices of all fruits and vegetables in the local market until the end of 2017.
Following the inspection period, the commission will establish further recommendations for action.
Source: globes.co.il
