Duty-free olive oil imports are about to hit their allotted quota in Israel, ahead of the Jewish holiday season.
As a result, prices are expected to begin rising in October, right after Rosh Hashanah has taken place and a week before Yom Kippur, according to Globes, an Israeli business publication.
In the second quarter of the year, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture provided the customs duty waiver to several Israeli importers, allowing them to bring olive oil into the country without having to pay any of the usual tariffs.
Supermarket olive oil prices reportedly decreased by 12 percent after the customs duty waivers were awarded.
“The customs duty exemption quotas have indeed brought about a substantial reduction in prices in the olive oil market,” said a spokesperson from Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry, which is responsible for distributing the olive oil once it has been imported.
The spokesperson also said that it will be up to Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture to increase the number of waivers that can be rewarded for the rest of the year.
The Ministry of Agriculture gave no indication that it would do so, stating that imported olive oil prices are already quite low this year.
“Olive oil prices are not expected to rise in advance of the Jewish holidays,? a spokesperson from the Ministry of Agriculture said. “Furthermore, it should be pointed out that prices of imported olive oil are very low, to the extent that even with the addition of full customs duties, imported olive oil is still cheaper than the local product.”
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