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Law for the Determination of the Date of Entry into Force of Pre-Packaged Food Labelling Provisions, 5775-2014

חוק קביעת מועד כניסה לתוקף של הוראות סימון מזון ארוז מראש, תשע"ה-2014

Published: 2014-12-17Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-09-01 · Last amended 2024-08-14✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-17
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Definitions§

1.

In this Law –

"labelling provision" means a provision under law that prescribes a new labelling requirement for a pre-packaged food product, amends an existing labelling requirement for such a product, or prohibits its labelling;

"advisory committee" means the committee established under section 7;

"Privacy Protection Law" means the Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981;

"regulator" means a person authorised under law to prescribe a labelling provision;

"labelling obligation date" means the date of entry into force of a labelling provision in accordance with the provisions of section 2;

"early labelling obligation date" means the date of entry into force of a labelling provision determined by a regulator in accordance with the provisions of section 3;

"food" has the meaning assigned to it in the Public Health Protection (Food) Law, 5776-2015;

"pre-packaged food" means food that was packed in a wrapper or container before its sale to the consumer;

"sale" has the meaning assigned to it in the Standards Law, 5713-1953;

"trader" means a person who sells, imports or manufactures a pre-packaged food product or uses it in work processes;

"the Minister" means the Minister of Economy;

"the Ministers" means the Minister and the Minister in whose authority or responsibility the field over which the regulator is in charge falls.

Date of Entry into Force of a Labelling Provision§

2.
(a)Notwithstanding any law, the labelling obligation date of a labelling provision published in Reshumot (Official Gazette) between 1 January and 31 December of any year shall be two years from the end of that year; however –
(1)if a regulator has determined an early labelling obligation date under section 3 – the labelling obligation date shall be the early date so determined;
(2)if the labelling provision is subject to a commitment of the State under an international convention – the labelling obligation date shall be the date determined by a regulator in accordance with that commitment;
(3)if the labelling provision was prescribed in a binding provision applicable in the European Union that was applied in Israel under section 3a of the Public Health Protection (Food) Law, 5776-2015 – the labelling obligation date shall be the date determined by a regulator in accordance with the provisions of section 3a(d) of that Law.
(b)A labelling provision shall state the date of its entry into force.

Determination of an Early Labelling Obligation Date§

3.

If a regulator has found that there is a real concern of harm to public welfare, health or safety, or of misleading the consumer within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981, or if it is the regulator's intention to prescribe labelling provisions on matters of kashrut, the regulator may, after consulting the advisory committee, determine an early labelling obligation date.

Labelling before the Date of Entry into Force of a Labelling Provision§

4.
(a)A trader may label a pre-packaged food product in accordance with a labelling provision before the date of its entry into force; if a trader has labelled a product as aforesaid, the law under which the labelling provision was prescribed shall apply to the labelling.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), a trader may not label a pre-packaged food product in accordance with a labelling provision before the date of its entry into force, if the regulator has found that doing so is liable to harm the purpose of the labelling provision and has prohibited it in the labelling provision, after consulting the advisory committee.

Exceptions to Application§

5.

The provisions of section 2 shall not apply to –

(1)a pre-packaged food product that was labelled before the labelling obligation date; notwithstanding the foregoing, a regulator may, after consulting the advisory committee, prescribe in the labelling provision that it shall apply to such a product from the labelling obligation date or from another date to be determined, if the regulator has found that this is necessary in order to ensure the purpose of the labelling provision, and the regulator may ease the requirements of the labelling provision as aforesaid as far as possible;
(2)a labelling provision given to a specific trader.

Internet Publication of a Labelling Provision§

6.

A regulator shall publish on the website of its office, in proximity to the publication of the labelling provision in Reshumot (Official Gazette), a notice of the labelling provision and the date of its entry into force; in the notice the regulator shall state whether it has prohibited labelling before the date of entry into force of the labelling provision under section 4(b), or whether the labelling provision shall also apply to a pre-packaged food product that was labelled before the labelling obligation date under section 5(1).

Advisory Committee§

7.
(a)The Minister shall appoint an advisory committee of six members, as follows:
(1)the chairperson of the Authority as defined in the Regulation Principles Law, 5782-2021, or an employee of that Authority appointed by the chairperson, who shall be the chairperson of the committee;
(2)two representatives of the Ministry of Economy, who are employees of the Ministry – one with knowledge and expertise in the field of industry, who shall be the deputy chairperson, and the second with knowledge and expertise in the field of industry, standardisation or small and medium-sized businesses;
(3)a representative of the Ministry of Health, who is an employee of the Ministry, with knowledge and expertise in the field of food supervision, upon the recommendation of the Minister of Health;
(4)a representative of the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority, who is an employee of the Authority, upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Consumer Protection and Fair Trade;
(5)a representative of the Standards Institution of Israel, who is an employee of the Institution, upon the recommendation of the Director General of the Standards Institution of Israel.
(b)A person shall not be appointed to the advisory committee if any of the following applies:
(1)the person has been convicted of an offence which, by reason of its nature, gravity or circumstances, renders the person unfit to serve as a member of the committee;
(2)an indictment has been filed against the person in respect of an offence as referred to in paragraph (1) and a final judgment has not yet been given in the matter;
(3)the person is liable to find themselves, directly or indirectly, on a regular basis, in a situation of conflict of interests between their function as a member of the advisory committee and a personal interest of theirs, or another function of theirs or of a relative of theirs; for this purpose –

"personal interest" includes a personal interest of a relative of the member, or of a body in which any of them or a relative of any of them are managers or responsible employees, or an interest of a body in which any of them holds a share in the share capital, a right to receive profits, a right to appoint a director or a voting right;

"relative" means a spouse, parent, grandparent, parent of a spouse, child, brother or sister, or another person who is a dependent of the member of the advisory committee.

(c)A member of the advisory committee shall be appointed for a term of three years, and may be reappointed for one additional term of office.
(d)A member of the advisory committee shall not receive remuneration for their service on the committee.

Functions of the Advisory Committee§

8.

The functions of the advisory committee are to deliberate on a regulator's notice and to transmit its recommendation to the regulator, and to hold a further deliberation on its recommendation at the request of the regulator, in accordance with the provisions of section 9, or at the request of one of the Ministers.

Recommendation of the Advisory Committee§

9.
(a)A regulator shall notify the advisory committee of its intention to determine an early labelling obligation date under section 3, to prohibit labelling in accordance with a labelling provision before the date of its entry into force under section 4(b), or to apply a labelling provision also to a pre-packaged product labelled before the labelling obligation date under section 5(1); the regulator's notice to the committee shall be in writing and shall include the reasons for the proposal.
(b)The advisory committee shall recommend to the regulator whether to prescribe the provision as referred to in subsection (a), to refrain from prescribing it, or to prescribe it with modifications, and shall transmit its recommendation to the regulator within 30 days of the date of the regulator's application; a regulator may submit to the advisory committee a reasoned written request to hold a further deliberation on the application, within 30 days of the date of receipt of its recommendation; if a regulator has requested a further deliberation, the advisory committee shall transmit its recommendation within 18 days of the date of the regulator's request.
(c)A regulator may accept the recommendation of the advisory committee, reject it in whole or in part, or prescribe a provision as referred to in subsection (a) even without its recommendation, if the committee has not transmitted its recommendation within the periods referred to in subsection (b); if the regulator has rejected the recommendation of the advisory committee, the regulator shall not prescribe such a provision unless it has notified the Ministers of its decision in a reasoned written notice within seven days of the date of receipt of the committee's recommendation, and seven days have elapsed from the date of the notice to the Ministers.
(d)A regulator's decision to prescribe a provision as referred to in subsection (a) and the reasons therefor shall be published within seven days on the website of the regulator's office, and if the regulator has notified the Ministers of its decision as referred to in subsection (c) – within seven days of the date of the notice to the Ministers; a publication under this section shall not include personal information as defined in the Privacy Protection Law.

Considerations of the Advisory Committee regarding the Determination of an Early Labelling Obligation Date§

10.

For the purpose of giving its recommendation to a regulator to determine an early labelling obligation date, the advisory committee shall examine whether the circumstances referred to in section 3 exist, and shall consider the effect of the labelling obligation at an early date on the activity of a trader in a pre-packaged food product, on consumers and on other regulators, and shall take into account, inter alia, the characteristics of the pre-packaged food, its composition, packaging, intended use and storage, and the characteristics and ages of its consumers.

Working Procedures of the Advisory Committee§

11.
(a)If a regulator has notified the advisory committee as referred to in section 9(a), the committee shall publish a public notice of its intention to deliberate on the regulator's notice, on the website of the Ministry of Economy, in an accessible and prominent place, in Hebrew and in Arabic, and also in other languages if it sees fit to do so; the notice shall state, inter alia, that any person may submit their position to the advisory committee by post and by electronic mail, and by another means – if the advisory committee has announced this, within seven days of the date of publication of the notice.
(b)The chairperson of the committee shall send by electronic mail the notice of the committee published as referred to in subsection (a) to any person who has requested in advance, by electronic mail to the address published by the committee on the website of the Ministry of Economy, by registered post or by another means published on the website of the Ministry, to be included in the mailing list of the advisory committee.
(c)The advisory committee shall deliberate on the positions submitted to it, and may invite those who submitted positions, all or some of them, to appear before it.
(d)The advisory committee shall maintain minutes of its deliberations.
(e)The advisory committee shall publish its recommendations and the reasons therefor on the website of the Ministry of Economy within seven days of the date of their transmission to the regulator; a publication under this section shall not include personal information as defined in the Privacy Protection Law.
(f)The advisory committee shall determine its own working procedures and deliberation procedures, insofar as they have not been prescribed under this Law, and for the purpose of carrying out its functions it may hear any person and request any person to furnish it with information or a document relating to its functions, except for personal information as defined in the Privacy Protection Law; for this purpose, "document" has the meaning assigned to it in section 8d of the Standards Law, 5713-1953.

Meetings of the Advisory Committee§

12.
(a)The chairperson of the advisory committee shall convene its meetings and shall determine their dates and agendas.
(b)The quorum for meetings of the advisory committee is four members, provided that the chairperson or the deputy chairperson of the committee is present at the meeting.
(c)Decisions of the advisory committee shall be adopted by a majority of the votes of those present at the meeting, provided that the chairperson or the deputy chairperson of the committee is present at the vote; if the votes are equal, the position of the chairperson shall be decisive, and in the chairperson's absence – that of the deputy chairperson.
(d)If a quorum as referred to in subsection (b) was not present, the advisory committee shall convene again within ten days; if the committee has convened as aforesaid, its decisions shall be adopted by a majority of the votes of those present at the meeting, provided that the chairperson or the deputy chairperson of the committee is present at the vote.
(e)Notice of the holding of a meeting of the advisory committee shall be served on the regulator, and the regulator or its representative shall participate therein; if the regulator has notified the chairperson of the committee that it waives its right to participate in the deliberation, or is absent from the deliberation without having given such notice, the meeting shall take place without the regulator; the regulator's notice as aforesaid, if given, shall be noted in the minutes.

Conflict of Interests§

13.
(a)A member of the advisory committee shall refrain from participating in a deliberation and from voting at meetings of the committee if the matter is liable to cause the member to find themselves, directly or indirectly, in a situation of conflict of interests between their function and a personal interest of theirs or another function of theirs, and shall not deal within the scope of their function with a matter that is liable to cause them to find themselves in such a situation outside the meetings of the committee as well; for this purpose, "personal interest" and "relative" have the meanings assigned to them in section 7(b)(3).
(b)If it becomes apparent to a member of the advisory committee or to the chairperson of the committee that the matter being deliberated at a meeting of the committee or being dealt with by the member is liable to cause the member to find themselves in a situation of conflict of interests as referred to in subsection (a), the member shall notify the chairperson of the committee or the Minister, as the case may be, without delay.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a member of the advisory committee may take into account also the interests of the body of which the member is a representative, and shall not be regarded as being in a situation of conflict of interests on that account alone.

Cessation of Office and Suspension§

14.
(a)A member of the advisory committee shall cease to serve before the end of the member's term of office in any of the following circumstances:
(1)the member has resigned by delivering a letter of resignation to the Minister;
(2)one of the circumstances that disqualify the member from being appointed as a member of the advisory committee has arisen, except under section 7(b)(2);
(3)the member has ceased to be an employee of the Ministry or the body that the member represents;
(4)the member is permanently unable to fulfil their function;
(5)the Minister is satisfied that the member has been absent without reasonable cause from three consecutive meetings of the committee or from five meetings in a period of one year; the chairperson of the advisory committee shall report to the Minister on a member of the committee who has been absent from its meetings as aforesaid; if the Minister is so satisfied, the Minister shall remove the member from office by written notice, after the member has been given an opportunity to present their arguments before the Minister.
(b)If an indictment has been filed against a member of the advisory committee in respect of an offence as referred to in section 7(b)(2), the Minister may suspend the member from office until the conclusion of the proceedings in the member's matter; if a committee member has been suspended as aforesaid, the Minister may appoint a substitute for the member for the period of suspension, in accordance with the provisions of section 7.

Validity of Actions§

15.

The existence of the committee, its powers and the validity of its actions shall not be affected by reason of a vacancy in the seat of a member thereof, or by reason of a defect in the appointment or continuation of office of a member, provided that a majority of its members are lawfully serving.

Application of Laws§

16.

A member of the committee who is an employee of the Standards Institution shall be treated as a State employee for the purposes of the following enactments:

(1)Public Service (Gifts) Law, 5740-1979;
(2)Penal Law, 5737-1977, with respect to the provisions relating to State employees;
(3)Public Service (Restrictions after Retirement) Law, 5729-1969;
(4)Evidence Ordinance [New Version], 5731-1971.

Implementation and Regulations§

17.
(a)The Minister is responsible for the implementation of this Law and may, after consulting the Minister of Health and with the approval of the Economics Committee of the Knesset, make Regulations for its implementation.
(b)Without derogating from the provisions of subsection (a), administrative directions to a regulator for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Law shall be given by the Minister in whose authority or responsibility the field over which the regulator is in charge falls.

Commencement and Application§

18.

This Law shall commence on the 10th of Tevet 5775 (1 January 2015), and shall apply to a labelling provision prescribed from the date of its commencement onwards.

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LawHealthCivil Law

חוק קביעת מועד כניסה לתוקף של הוראות סימון מזון ארוז מראש, תשע"ה-2014

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