Knesset greenlights Produce Standards Law

The Knesset approved a new law meant to supervise the production of plants, fruits, vegetables and their marketing in Israel. The Produce Standards Law, which aims to set quality and safety standards for fruits and vegetables, was brought before the House by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Related stories: New bill seeks produce price control Gaza farmers launch produce export season The bill's requirements focus on product safety, such as irrigation water quality, pesticide residues, packing houses etc., as well as pose some physical demands of produce quality, such as the color, shape, and size of fresh agricultural produce. The ministry said that the law will lead to a "recognizable improvement in quality for the consumer," adding that marketers and supermarket and produce chains will be obligated to classify and separate different kinds of produce according to their quality, and label them accordingly. "Guarding consumer rights is based first and foremost on fairness and transparency. The standards law will ensure that the consumer will know exactly what he is buying, and he will pay according to the quality of the merchandise," Agriculture Minister Orit Noked said in a ministry statement. The Knesset plenum first voted on the bill in August. It was then ratified by the Knesset Economics Affair Committee prior to its second and third readings. The Agriculture Ministry is also promoting a bill that will mandate retail food chains to post the recommended produce prices, as published daily by the Plants Production and Marketing Board The Ministry is reportedly also considering imposing sanctions on chains failing to post such recommendations. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook, Twitter and Google+