The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture has allowed the importation of unlimited quantities of customs-free tomatoes in light of the extraordinary rise in tomato prices, which adds to the expected shortage expected in the market next month, reports Israel Today.
The duty-free import period will be time-bound to protect local growers and enable consumers to buy tomatoes at fair prices, the paper said.
The wholesale price of one kilo of tomatoes rose recently to 7 shekels (1.76 Euro), and the procedures of the Ministry of Agriculture automatically allow the opening of imports exempt from customs, if the price of a kilogram of tomatoes reaches 6 shekels and continues to rise over five consecutive working days, which is precisely what has happened.
The first shipments of imported tomatoes are expected to arrive next week from Turkey and the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture expects the tomato shortage to continue for three to four weeks.
Source: ramallah.news