Israeli Legislation.com
LawCorporate & BusinessCivil Law

Law for the Promotion of Competition in the Food and Pharmacy Sectors, 5774-2014

חוק קידום התחרות בענפי המזון והפארם, תשע"ד-2014

Published: 2014-03-27Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-07-19 · Last amended 2025-12-30✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-17
Premium
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.

Chapter I: Purpose and Definitions

Purpose§

1.

The purpose of this Law is to increase competitiveness in the food sector and in the field of consumer products, in order to reduce prices to the consumer.

Definitions§

2.

In this Law –

"related person", in relation to a corporation – any of the following:

(1)a person who controls the corporation;
(2)a corporation controlled by a person as referred to in paragraph (1);
(3)a corporation controlled by any of those referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2);

"the website" – the website of the Competition Authority;

"the Tribunal" and "arrangement" – as defined in the Economic Competition Law;

"directly or indirectly" – including by any of the following:

(1)through an agent or trustee;
(2)together with another person in cooperation pursuant to an agreement;
(3)through rights conferred pursuant to an agreement;
(4)through holding or acquisition by a relative, a trust company or a registration company;

"default charges" and "shekel interest" – as defined in the Interest and Linkage Law;

"holding" – directly or indirectly, and a person shall be deemed to hold, himself, directly, all the holdings of a person related to him;

"the Commissioner" – as defined in the Economic Competition Law, and for the purposes of Chapter III – as defined in the Consumer Protection Law;

"agreement" – including an arrangement;

"Consumer Protection Law" – the Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981;

"Economic Competition Law" – the Economic Competition Law, 5748-1988;

"Interest and Linkage Law" – the Interest and Linkage Law, 5721-1961;

"right in a corporation" – any of the following:

(1)ownership of a share, holding thereof, or a right to direct the sale thereof;
(2)a right to vote at a general meeting of a company or at an organ equivalent to a general meeting of another corporation, or a right to direct how to vote at a general meeting or at such an organ;
(3)a right to appoint a director, and in a corporation that is not a company – a right to appoint a person holding a similar position; for this purpose, a person who appointed a director or a person holding a similar position shall be deemed to hold the right to appoint him;
(4)a right to appoint a general manager;
(5)a right to participate in the profits of the corporation;
(6)a right to share in the surplus assets of the corporation after discharge of its debts upon its winding-up;
(7)any right whose substance is equivalent to a right referred to in paragraphs (1) to (6), even if described differently;

"store" – a place for the retail sale of food and consumer products, including an online store, provided that all the conditions set out below are met in respect thereof, and for this purpose several points of sale shall be deemed to be a single store if one retailer holds them in a single complex:

(1)all of the following are sold therein on a regular basis: fresh vegetables and fruits, milk and dairy products, and cleaning products;
(2)more than half of its sales turnover derives from the sale of food;

"large store" – a store whose sales area is at least 250 square metres, excluding an online store;

"sales turnover" – the value of sales according to audited financial statements, excluding value added tax and purchase tax, and in the case of a company that has parent companies or subsidiaries – according to consolidated financial statements; for this purpose –

"parent company" – a company that controls another company;

"subsidiary" – a company that another company controls;

"commodity" – food and any other product sold in a store, excluding electrical appliances, textile products, office equipment, household utensils, books and newspapers;

"new commodity" – a commodity that was not supplied in Israel during the year preceding the commencement of its supply (in this definition – the preceding year), and for as long as a year has not elapsed from the commencement of supply; for this purpose, a commodity shall not be deemed a new commodity if it does not differ materially from another commodity sold to consumers in the preceding year, including a change in packaging, including its size, shape or appearance, or an immaterial change in the composition of the commodity;

"private label commodity" – a commodity bearing a trade name, trade mark, symbol, special inscription, graphic design or other distinctive signs by which it can be identified with a large retailer or large retailers;

"substitute commodities" – the narrow group of commodities that are direct and significant substitutes in the eyes of the consumer for another commodity;

"supplier" – a person who supplies to a retailer, or through a retailer, directly or through a distributor, commodities, including private label commodities, including a distributor of such commodities, as well as any related person to any of the foregoing;

"large supplier" – a supplier whose sales turnover to retailers, or through retailers, in Israel, in the preceding financial year, exceeded NIS 353,121,684.91, or a supplier who holds a monopoly within the meaning of section 26 of the Economic Competition Law, in respect of a particular commodity for which a monopoly has been declared;

"Pharmacists Ordinance" – the Pharmacists Ordinance [New Version], 5741-1981;

"retailer" – a person who holds a store, as well as any related person to him;

"large retailer" – any of the following:

(1)a retailer holding at least three stores whose aggregate sales turnover of his stores, in the preceding financial year, exceeds NIS 294,268,070.77; for this purpose, "sales turnover" – including the sales turnover of commodities that a supplier sold in the retailer's store;
(2)a retailer holding an online store whose aggregate sales turnover in Israel from the online store, and if he also holds one or more stores that are not online stores – together with his revenues therefrom and from commodities that a supplier sold in the retailer's store, in the preceding financial year, exceeds NIS 294,268,070.77;

"relative" – a spouse, as well as a sibling, parent, grandparent, descendant or descendant of the spouse, or the spouse of any of the foregoing;

"control" – the ability to direct, directly or indirectly, the activity of a corporation; without derogating from the generality of the foregoing, a person shall be presumed to be a controlling shareholder of a corporation –

(1)if he holds more than half of the right to vote at a general meeting of a company or at an organ equivalent to a general meeting of another corporation, or of the right to appoint directors in a company or of the right to appoint persons holding similar positions in a corporation that is not a company;
(2)if he holds the right to appoint a general manager of the corporation;
(3)if he holds more than thirty percent of the rights in a corporation, and no other person holds more than half of that right;
(4)if he holds the ability to prevent the adoption of a material business decision in the corporation, unless that ability derives from an agreement concerning a loan granted by a banking corporation in the ordinary course of its business, or if it was conferred for the purpose of customary minority protection in a corporation; and a person who is a beneficiary under a trust shall also be presumed to be a controlling shareholder of its assets, unless he holds a unit in a mutual fund to which the Joint Investments in Trust Law, 5754-1994 applies;

"medicinal preparation" – as defined in the Pharmacists Ordinance;

"cosmetic" – as defined in section 55a of the Pharmacists Ordinance;

"the Minister" – the Minister of Economy.

Updating of Amounts§

3.
(a)The Minister, in consultation with the Commissioner and with the approval of the Economics Committee of the Knesset, may change the amount specified in the definition "large supplier", and may prescribe different amounts for different categories of large suppliers.
(b)The amounts prescribed in the definitions "large supplier" and "large retailer" and in the definition "large pharmacy retailer" in section 21a shall be updated on the 16th of January of each year (in this subsection – the update date) in accordance with the rate of change in the index known on the update date as compared with the index known on the update date in the preceding year; the Commissioner shall publish in Reshumot (Official Gazette) and on the website a notice of the updated amounts pursuant to this section; in this section, "index" – the consumer price index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Need to cite this law in a foreign court?

Eli Shimony Israeli Attorneys-at-Law provides certified Expert Legal Opinions on Israeli law within 24–48 hours, accepted by courts worldwide.

Contact Us →

Chapter II: Regulation of the Activity of Suppliers and Retailers

Section A: Prohibited Actions

List of Large Suppliers and Large Retailers§
4.
(a)In this Section, "list" – a list of the large suppliers and of the large retailers in whom the Commissioner has found that the conditions set out in the definitions "large supplier" and "large retailer", as the case may be, were met in the financial year preceding the date of publication, and of those who declared that they are a large supplier in accordance with the provisions of section 12(a).
(b)The Commissioner shall publish on the website, by 31 May of each year, the list.
Prohibition on Interference by a Supplier§
5.

A supplier shall not dictate or recommend to a retailer, nor otherwise intervene with a retailer, in the matter of the price to the consumer charged by the retailer for a commodity supplied by another supplier, or in the matter of the conditions on which the retailer sells to a consumer a commodity supplied by another supplier.

Prohibition on Interference by a Retailer§
6.

A retailer shall not dictate or recommend to a supplier, nor otherwise intervene with a supplier, in the matter of the price to the consumer charged by another retailer for a commodity, or in the matter of the conditions on which another retailer sells a commodity to a consumer.

Additional Prohibitions in respect of Large Suppliers and Large Retailers§
7.
(a)Without derogating from the provisions of sections 5 and 6 –
(1)
(a)a large supplier shall not engage in the arrangement of commodities in the store of a large retailer included in the list, and shall not dictate, recommend or otherwise intervene in the matter of the arrangement of commodities;
(b)nothing in sub-paragraph (a) shall prevent a large supplier from giving instructions regarding the handling required for commodities that he supplies to the large retailer, for the purpose of preserving their proper condition, quality and safety, or from preventing him from engaging in the arrangement of commodities requiring refrigeration in the store of a large retailer whose total store area, including the sales area and the storerooms, does not exceed 250 square metres;
(2)a large retailer shall not be a party to an arrangement with a large supplier included in the list relating to the arrangement of commodities in his store, except for an arrangement relating to the arrangement of commodities as referred to in paragraph (1)(b);
(3)a large supplier shall not dictate or recommend to a retailer, nor otherwise intervene with a retailer, in the following matters:
(a)the price to the consumer charged by the retailer for a commodity supplied by the supplier;
(b)the allocation of shelf space at any rate to a commodity supplied by the supplier;
(c)the purchase of a commodity supplied by the supplier at any volume out of the retailer's total purchases of that commodity and of substitute commodities;
(d)the purchase or sale of commodities supplied by another supplier to the retailer, including quantities and purchase targets, the shelf space allocated to them in the store and any other commercial condition;
(4)a large retailer shall not be a party to an arrangement with a large supplier included in the list relating to the matters enumerated in paragraph (3).
(b)The Commissioner may, at the request of a large supplier or a large retailer, exempt him from the application of the provisions of subsection (a), except for subsection (a)(3)(d), in whole or in part, as the case may be, if he is satisfied that the carrying out of the actions that are the subject of the exemption does not give rise to a concern of harm to competition; the Commissioner's decisions pursuant to this subsection shall be published on the website.
(c)The Commissioner may prescribe rules in relation to categories of arrangements or actions in respect of which a large supplier or a large retailer shall be exempt from the application of the provisions of subsection (a), except for subsection (a)(3)(d), if he is satisfied that such categories of arrangements or actions do not give rise to a concern of harm to competition.
(d)The provisions of subsection (a), except for subsection (a)(3)(d), shall not apply in respect of a new commodity of the large supplier.
Prohibited Pricing and Prohibited Tying§
8.
(a)A large retailer shall not be a party to an arrangement with a large supplier included in the list, and a large supplier shall not be a party to an arrangement with a large retailer included in the list or with a distributor, whose result is prohibited pricing; for this purpose, "prohibited pricing" –
(1)the sale of a portion of the units of a commodity, or the sale of a portion of the units of the commodities in a basket of commodities, at a price lower than the marginal cost of supplying the commodity to the large retailer;
(2)the sale of commodities, including a basket of commodities, the total price of which is lower than or equal to the total price that the large supplier offers the large retailer for the purchase of a smaller number of units of the same commodity or for the same basket of commodities in a more limited composition.
(b)The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply in respect of arrangements concerning only a new commodity of the large supplier.
(c)A large supplier shall not make the sale of one of his commodities to a retailer conditional on the purchase of another commodity of that large supplier.
(c1)A large supplier shall not make the granting of a discount to a large retailer included in the list, for one of his commodities, directly or indirectly, whether in money or in money's worth, conditional on the purchase of another commodity of that large supplier (in this section – a prohibited discount).
(c2)A large retailer shall not be a party to an arrangement with a large supplier included in the list whose result is a prohibited discount.
(d)A supplier shall not transfer payments to a large retailer included in the list, whether in money or in money's worth, and a large retailer shall not receive such payments; nothing in the foregoing shall prohibit a supplier from reducing, subject to the provisions of this Law, the price per unit of a commodity that he supplies to the large retailer; the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any of the following:
(1)payments from a supplier to a large retailer against the return of commodities that he supplied to the large retailer;
(2)payments that do not form part of the commercial conditions relating to the purchase of the supplier's products by the large retailer, including compensation under any law;
(3)payments pursuant to an arrangement under which the supplier sells his commodities directly to the consumer, through the large retailer, in consideration for a payment to the large retailer.
(e)In this section –

"basket of commodities" – commodities whose price is affected by their being sold together or which are offered for sale at an inclusive price;

"marginal cost of supplying a commodity" – the change in the total cost of producing or purchasing a commodity, marketing it and distributing it by the supplier, as a result of the supply of an additional unit of the commodity by the supplier.

8a.§

(Repealed — תשפ״ג־3)

8b.§

(Repealed — תשפ״ג־3)

Power to Issue Instructions to a Large Retailer Selling Commodities of a Large Supplier§
9.
(a)The Commissioner may give instructions to the large retailer, who sells a commodity of a large supplier, regarding the steps that he must take in connection with that commodity or in connection with substitute commodities for that commodity, including instructions regarding the areas in the store allocated for sale (in this Law – shelf space), in the store of the large retailer for the commodity or for substitute commodities, and he may make his instructions subject to conditions, including conditions concerning payments, all in order to prevent harm or a concern of material harm to competition or to the public, or in order to materially increase competition.
(b)The Commissioner shall give notice of his intention to issue an instruction to the large retailer or to the large supplier concerned by that instruction and shall also publish on the website notice of his intention to issue an instruction pursuant to this section, at least 14 days before the issuance of the instruction, and shall make the text of the instruction available for public inspection.
(c)The Commissioner shall deliver the instruction to the large retailer, shall notify the large supplier who supplies the commodity that is the subject of the instruction thereof, and shall publish the text of the instruction on the website.
(d)A large retailer to whom an instruction has been given pursuant to subsection (a), and any large supplier in connection with whose commodity the instruction was given, may appeal against it to the Tribunal within thirty days of the date of publication of the instruction as referred to in subsection (c).
(e)The Tribunal may confirm the Commissioner's instruction, set it aside or modify it.
(f)The Commissioner's instruction shall enter into force within thirty days of the date of publication referred to in subsection (c) or at a later date determined by the Commissioner.
(g)The provisions pursuant to sections 33 to 40 of the Economic Competition Law, with the necessary modifications, shall apply to the proceedings of the Tribunal on an appeal pursuant to this section and to an appeal against its decision.
Provisions regarding Allocation of Shelf Space to Very Large Suppliers – Temporary Provision§
10.
(a)The Commissioner shall publish on the website a list of very large suppliers to whose commodities supplied to a large retailer the large retailer shall not be entitled to allocate shelf space at a rate exceeding 50% of the shelf space in each of his large stores; in this section, "very large supplier" – a supplier whose sales turnover to retailers, or through retailers, in Israel, in the preceding financial year, exceeded one billion new shekels.
(b)The provisions of subsection (a) shall remain in force for one year from the date of commencement of this Section; the Minister, with the approval of the Economics Committee of the Knesset, may extend the period by one additional year at a time, provided that the total period of validity of the provisions of that subsection shall not exceed four years.
(c)Within two months of the date of commencement of this Law, the large retailers shall report to the Commissioner on the rate of the shelf space in their large stores allocated to commodities of very large suppliers; the Commissioner may postpone the reporting date pursuant to this subsection by an additional month.
(d)The Commissioner shall report to the Economics Committee of the Knesset on his findings regarding the allocation of shelf space in the large stores of large retailers, and he may, with the approval of the Economics Committee of the Knesset, prescribe a different rate from the rate prescribed in subsection (a) for the allocation of shelf space to very large suppliers; such a report shall be submitted within one month of the end of the period referred to in subsection (c).
Power to Issue Instructions to a Retailer Selling Private Label Commodities§
11.
(a)If the Commissioner is of the view that, as a result of the conduct of a large retailer in relation to private label commodities that he sells, there is a concern of material harm to the public or to competition, he may give the large retailer instructions regarding the steps that he must take in order to prevent the harm; an instruction given to a large retailer shall be published on the website.
(b)If a large retailer has been given an instruction pursuant to subsection (a), he may appeal against it to the Tribunal within thirty days of receipt of the instruction.
(c)The Tribunal may confirm the Commissioner's instruction, set it aside or modify it.
(d)The provisions pursuant to sections 33 to 40 of the Economic Competition Law, with the necessary modifications, shall apply to the proceedings of the Tribunal on an appeal pursuant to this section and to an appeal against its decision.
Reporting Obligations – Large Supplier and Large Retailer§
12.
(a)A large supplier shall report to the Commissioner, once a year, on his annual sales turnover to retailers in Israel and through them; notwithstanding the foregoing, a large supplier may submit to the Commissioner a declaration that the conditions in the definition "large supplier" are met in his case, and the reporting obligation pursuant to this subsection shall not apply to him.
(b)A large retailer shall report to the Commissioner, once a year, on the stores that he holds and the annual sales turnover of each store.
(c)The Minister shall prescribe provisions regarding the particulars of the report and the declaration pursuant to this section, and the dates for their submission.
Preliminary Opinions§
13.

The provisions of section 43a of the Economic Competition Law shall apply, with the necessary modifications, for the purposes of this Section.

Need to cite this law in a foreign court?

Eli Shimony Israeli Attorneys-at-Law provides certified Expert Legal Opinions on Israeli law within 24–48 hours, accepted by courts worldwide.

Contact Us →
←1234 →

Page 1 of 4

Read the entire law on one page — continuous text, no page breaks, plus PDF downloads.

LawCorporate & BusinessCivil Law

חוק קידום התחרות בענפי המזון והפארם, תשע"ד-2014

Kidum Tacharut Food Pharmacy Law

Food and Pharmacy Competition Law

Food Pharmacy Sectors Competition

Israel Competition Promotion Law 2014

Food Pharmacy Market Competition

Tacharut Pharma Food Law

Food Drug Sectors Competition Act

Israel Food Pharmacy Reform Law