Agricultural Affairs

Agricultural Affairs

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    The European market constitutes Israel’s foremost target market for exporting fresh and processed agricultural products. The great majority of agricultural trade is conducted within the Association Agreement, which awards customs duty benefits for import/export trade between Israel and EU Member States. ​​​

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    Department Services
    The Agriculture Department within the Mission of Israel to the European Union works as the long arch of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and acts to represent the interests of Israel's agricultural sector in the EU.

    For many years Israel and the EU conduct active trade relations in the fields of fresh and processed agricultural products. In order to facilitate trade, both parties are striving to minimize any trade barriers such as tariffs, Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary measures.

    In cases of local and infrequent trade disruptions, the Agriculture department will work with both Importers and Exporters to facilitate the problem. 

    The Agriculture Department will try to match up Israeli entrepreneurs who wish to develop new markets in the EU with interested agents, distributors, importers and associations. It will also provide regulation guidance when this is needed. The Agriculture Department is actively involved in promotion activities of Israeli fresh agricultural products, according to specific demands and with local cooperation.   

    On top of the aforementioned issues, the Department contributes to Israel's activities within the OECD.  

    Below you can find a short summary on our cooperation with the EU and the OECD.

    We also work together with several international fairs to foster agricultural cooperation between Europe and Israel.

     
     
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  • WATEC - Annual International Exhibition and Conference on Water Technology and Environment Control

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    ​WATEC Israel is an international professional exhibition that offers a meeting place for manufacturers, researchers, investors, academics, purchasers and decision-makers representing both local and international businesses.

    Those invited to take part include Mayors, Heads of Municipalities, Rural Communities, Engineers, Technicians, Maintenance Managers, Consultants, Regulatory Bodies, Decision Makers, Project Developers, Safety Managers, Entrepreneurs and all other individuals and organizations dealing with water technologies.

  • AGRITECH – Triennial International Agricultural Exhibition and Conference

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    AGRITECH Israel is one of the world’s most important exhibitions in the field of agricultural technologies. We all witness far-reaching changes in the agriculture industry - due to the influences of nature like that of climatic conditions and amount of natural resources available and or economic influences in the form of developing world’s needs. All these conditions will continue to exert their influence not only on crop production, but also on the increasingly valuable harvest. This urges us to invest in the post-harvest systems, which are quite diverse, depending on place, crops or products and the different stages of activity involved. Agritech offers a platform to present some of the newest methods and processes.

  • Fresh AgroMashov - Annual International Exhibition of Agriculture

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    Mashov Company operates for more than 20 years in publishing, organization of conventions international exhibitions in the areas of agriculture, gardening, water technology, infrastructures and quality of the environment. The long-standing existence of "Fresh AgroMashov Exhibition" and the fact that "Mashov Khaklaut" ('Mashov Agriculture') magazine accompanies agriculture throughout the year made "Fresh AgroMashov" the largest and most significant international agricultural event in Israel. The exhibition enjoys international reputation and is visited by delegations from all the four corners of the world (Africa, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, India, China, Indonesia, Turkey, South America and more).

    The Fresh AgroMashov exhibition is visited by 90% of the Israeli farmers, including the leaders of various agricultural branches.

  •  FRUIT LOGISTICA – Annual International Fresh Produce Exhibition

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    More than 2,700 exhibitors and 65,000 visitors attend FRUITLOGISTICA​ every year in Berlin to realise their full business potential within the international fresh produce trade – and to write their own success story! FRUIT LOGISTICA covers every single sector of the fresh produce business and provides a complete picture of the latest innovations, products and services at every link in the international supply chain. It thus offers superb networking and contact opportunities to the key decision-makers in every sector of the industry. 
    In 2015, “Aurora Seedless Papaya” produced by Aviv Flowers Packing House Ltd. in Israel won the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award​. 

  •  Planète du Goût – Annual Event on Culinary Specialties

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    ​Planète du Goût is an annual event, organized by the Association of Agricultural Consultants in Paris. Each country is represented by its Agricultural Advisor that brings local produce and culinary specialties of his/her country to share it with the network of French Agricultural Relations Consultants. Each year the embassy of a different country hosts the event.

  • Israel in the EU and the OECD

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    ​Israel in the OECD since September 2010

    On September 7, 2010, Israel became the 33rd member of the OECD. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organization of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries committed to democratic values and embracing the open market principles.

    It provides a platform on which Member countries can compare policy experiences, find solutions to common problems, identify good practices, and co-ordinate their domestic and international policies.

    Its mandate covers economic, environmental, and social issues. It defines "soft law"-non-binding instruments. In this work, the OECD cooperates with businesses, trade unions, as well as representatives of civil society. Its headquarters is in Paris, France.

    The OECD's structure embraces three main bodies:

    The OECD member countries, each represented by a delegation led by an ambassador. Together, they form the OECD Council.

    The OECD Secretariat, led by the Secretary-General. The Secretariat is organised in directorates each responsible of collecting data, monitoring trends, and analysing economic developments in its own area.

    The OECD Committees, one for each work area of the OECD. Committee members are generally subject-matter experts from member and non-member countries. The committees decide on the programme of work on each theme (publications, task forces, conferences, and so on).

    The OECD promotes policies designed:

    to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as nonmember countries in the process of economic development, taking care of improving standards of living and employment rate.

    to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, nondiscriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. 

    The OECD publishes books, reports, statistics, working papers and reference materials. All titles and databases published since 1998 can be accessed via OECD iLibrary. 


    Israel Signs New Agricultural Agreement with the EU on 4 November 2009

    Israel and the European Community signed a new agreement concerning reciprocal liberalization measures on agricultural products, processed agricultural products and fishery products. The agreement is set to improve market access significantly, and abolish over 95% of customs duties and levies on processed agricultural products. It will also enable approximately 80% of fresh produce to be exempt from all customs restrictions.

    The agreement was signed in Brussels by Israel's Ambassador Ran Curiel, and the Swedish Ambassador to the EU, Christian Danielsson. The new agreement is an updated version of the agreement that was first signed in the 1970's. Since then, several amendments have been made to reflect the far-reaching changes that have been needed by both sides.

    In his speech, Ambassador Curiel stressed that the relations between the EU and Israel are longstanding and intensive, spanning 50 years in which Israeli agriculture became a sector based on capital investment and technological innovation. He added that, "Today Israel offers the European consumer a broad and diverse range of fresh and processed food products of the highest quality. European consumers look to Israeli products for their quality, freshness and safety".

    Presently, annual Israeli agricultural exports to the EU amount to nearly one billion Euros.
    Israel's desert conditions in the southern part of the country have spurred the development of cutting edge, innovative technologies, which have yielded an impressively high output of fruits and vegetables. More than 60% of Israeli exports to Europe originate in this arid terrain, where rainfall amounts to less than 50mm per year.