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Law for the Reduction of the Use of Single-Use Carrier Bags, 5776-2016

חוק לצמצום השימוש בשקיות נשיאה חד-פעמיות, תשע"ו-2016

Published: 2016-04-07Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-09-03 · Last amended 2024-07-04✓ 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

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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 bring about a reduction in the use of carrier bags in order to decrease the amount of waste generated as a result of their use and the negative environmental effects of such waste, inter alia by restricting the distribution of single-use carrier bags by dealers without consideration and by imposing a levy on their sale, all for the purpose of ensuring the existence of a proper environment, in accordance with the precautionary principle, for the protection of biodiversity, for the prevention and reduction of environmental and health nuisances, for the improvement of quality of life and the environment, for the benefit of the public and for the benefit of future generations.

Definitions§

2.

In this Law –

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

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

"Packaging Treatment Regulation Law" – the Packaging Treatment Regulation Law, 5771-2011;

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

"Cleanliness Law" – the Cleanliness Maintenance Law, 5744-1984;

"the Administrator" – as defined in the Packaging Treatment Regulation Law, and for the purposes of Chapter III – an employee of the Ministry directly subordinate to the Director-General of the Ministry, whom the Minister has authorised for the purposes of that Chapter;

"the Ministry" – the Ministry of Environmental Protection;

"dealer" – a person engaged in the retail sale of products, including by means of a distance sale transaction;

"distance sale transaction" – as defined in the Consumer Protection Law;

"large retailer" – a large retailer as defined in the Law for the Promotion of Competition in the Food and Pharmacy Sectors, 5774-2014, listed in the list published pursuant to section 4 of that Law;

"the Cleanliness Fund" – the Cleanliness Maintenance Fund established pursuant to section 10 of the Cleanliness Law;

"quarter" – a period of three months commencing on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October of each year;

"carrier bag" – a bag intended for carrying products purchased from a dealer, excluding –

(1)a bag that comes into direct contact with food, and in respect of food sold at an eating establishment within the meaning of the Business Licensing Law, 5728-1968 – also a bag intended for carrying the food when it is packed in a single layer that constitutes a service package as defined in the Packaging Treatment Regulation Law;
(2)a bag for carrying medicines;

"single-use carrier bag" – a carrier bag whose thickness is between 20 and 50 microns;

"the Minister" – the Minister of Environmental Protection.

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Chapter II: Duties of Dealers

Duties of a Dealer in respect of the Supply or Sale of Bags§

3.

A dealer shall not make available to a customer, shall not deliver to a customer, and shall not sell to a customer a carrier bag whose thickness is less than 20 microns.

Duties of a Large Retailer in respect of the Supply or Sale of Bags§

4.
(a)A large retailer shall not make available to a customer and shall not deliver to a customer a single-use carrier bag, unless the large retailer has collected from the customer a payment therefor of not less than the amount of the levy pursuant to section 5, with the addition of value added tax applicable to the sale.
(b)A large retailer shall not make available to a customer, shall not deliver to a customer, and shall not sell to a customer a bag that comes into direct contact with food and that has handles.
(c)
(1)A large retailer shall post, at the place of business, next to each till, a notice regarding its intention to collect a payment as referred to in subsection (a) in respect of each single-use carrier bag that a customer takes or that is delivered to a customer; the Minister, with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, may prescribe provisions regarding the text of the notice, its form and the manner of its display, as well as cases, circumstances and conditions in which the duty to post a notice as aforesaid shall not apply, generally or in respect of a particular class of dealers;
(2)In a distance sale transaction, a large retailer shall enable a customer to notify it of how many single-use carrier bags the customer wishes to purchase, and shall not sell single-use carrier bags to a customer unless it has notified the customer of the maximum reasonable number of carrier bags it intends to sell to the customer and has received the customer's consent to being charged the payment referred to in subsection (a).
(d)A large retailer shall indicate, separately, in an invoice, a tax invoice or a cash register tape as defined in the provisions made pursuant to the Income Tax Ordinance [New Version] (hereinafter – invoice) that it issues to a customer, the number of single-use carrier bags sold to the customer pursuant to subsection (a) and the price paid therefor.

Levy on a Single-Use Carrier Bag§

5.
(a)A large retailer shall pay, in respect of each single-use carrier bag sold, a levy in the amount of 8.54 agorot.
(b)The Minister, with the consent of the Minister of Finance and after consultation with the Minister of Economy and Industry, and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, may, by Order, alter the amount of the levy prescribed in subsection (a), having regard inter alia to the extent of the reduction in the use of single-use carrier bags, provided that the amount of the levy shall not exceed 60 agorot.
(c)The Minister, with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, shall set targets for the reduction of the use of single-use carrier bags.
(d)The Minister shall examine from time to time, and at least once every three years, the extent of the reduction in the use of single-use carrier bags, compliance with the targets set pursuant to subsection (c), and the need to update the targets or to alter the amount of the levy as referred to in subsection (b).

Designation of Levy Proceeds§

6.
(a)A levy pursuant to this Law shall be paid to the Cleanliness Fund.
(b)
(1)The levy proceeds transferred to the Cleanliness Fund pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be managed in a separate account, and shall serve to encourage the reduction of the use of single-use carrier bags and to reduce the negative environmental effects caused as a result of their use, inter alia by encouraging the use of alternative carrying means that are reusable and whose harm to the environment is lesser, by means of education and information campaigns to instil the purposes of this Law among the public, and by means of carrying out cleaning operations to remove bag waste from the sea and its shores, and may also serve to provide assistance to manufacturers of carrier bags, inter alia for the purpose of adapting their activities to the provisions of this Law, all as the Minister shall direct on the recommendation of the Cleanliness Fund;
(2)Where funds have been allocated in a given year for the purposes referred to in paragraph (1), and at the end of that year a balance of levy proceeds remains, the balance shall serve to advance the purposes of the Clean Air Law, 5768-2008, or shall be transferred to the budget of the separate account referred to in paragraph (1) for the budget year following that year, for the realisation of the purposes enumerated in this subsection.

Payment and Collection of the Levy§

7.
(a)A levy pursuant to this Law shall be paid no later than 30 days from the end of each quarter, in respect of the single-use carrier bags sold by a large retailer, as referred to in section 4(a), in that quarter.
(b)Where a levy has not been paid by the date referred to in subsection (a), arrears interest at the rate of the Accountant-General's arrears interest rate shall be added thereto for the period of delay, until the date of its payment; in this subsection, "Accountant-General's arrears interest rate" – as defined in the notice regarding the Accountant-General's interest rate as published from time to time in Reshumot (Official Gazette).

Duty of Reporting to the Administrator§

8.
(a)A large retailer shall submit to the Administrator a quarterly report and an annual report on the number of single-use carrier bags in respect of which it is liable to pay a levy pursuant to section 5, for the period covered by the report, their price to the customer, the types of materials from which the bags are made, their thickness and their weight.
(b)A quarterly report shall be submitted to the Administrator no later than 30 days from the end of each quarter.
(c)An annual report shall be submitted to the Administrator no later than three months from the end of each financial year, audited by an auditor.
(d)The Administrator shall publish on the Ministry's website the format for the submission of reports pursuant to this section, and shall send notice thereof to large retailers.
(e)The Administrator, or a person authorised by the Administrator from among the Ministry's employees, may require a large retailer to furnish any information that served for the preparation of a report pursuant to this section; where a large retailer is required to furnish information as aforesaid, it shall furnish it at the time and in the manner specified in the requirement.

Determination of the Amount of the Levy by the Administrator§

9.
(a)Where a large retailer has not submitted a report as referred to in section 8, or has submitted such a report but the Administrator has reasonable grounds to believe that the report is incorrect, the Administrator may, after having given the large retailer an opportunity to state its arguments, determine by a reasoned decision the amount of the levy that the large retailer is required to pay pursuant to the provisions of section 5.
(b)The filing of a petition to the Administrative Affairs Court against a decision of the Administrator pursuant to subsection (a) shall not stay the payment of the levy, unless the Administrator has agreed thereto or the court has ordered otherwise.
(c)Where the court has decided, after the levy has been paid, to grant a petition as referred to in subsection (b) or an appeal against a decision on such a petition, and has ordered the return of the amount of the levy paid or the reduction of the levy, the amount paid, or any part thereof that has been reduced, shall be returned together with shekel interest from the date of its payment until the date of its return, and the provisions of the Interest and Linkage Law shall apply in respect of such interest, with the necessary modifications.

Duty of Record-Keeping§

10.
(a)A large retailer shall maintain a full and detailed record of the matters included in the duty of reporting pursuant to section 8.
(b)The Administrator, or a person authorised by the Administrator from among the Ministry's employees, may inspect the record referred to in this section and obtain a copy thereof.

Duties of an Office Holder in a Corporation§

11.
(a)The director-general of a dealer that is a corporation, and a partner in a corporation that is a partnership, excluding a limited partner, are obligated to supervise and to take all reasonable measures in the circumstances of the matter to prevent a violation of a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law by the corporation or by any of its employees.
(b)Without derogating from the generality of what is stated in subsection (a), the director-general or a partner as referred to in that subsection shall establish rules and procedures capable of preventing a violation of the provisions pursuant to this Law.

Reporting to the Knesset§

12.
(a)The Minister shall submit to the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, annually, no later than 30 June, a report relating to the year preceding the date of its submission, which shall include inter alia all of the following, provided that it shall not include data that can be identified with a particular dealer:
(1)a summary of the data reported to the Administrator in the annual and quarterly reports pursuant to section 8;
(2)prominent trends in the data and any additional analysis and assessment of the data carried out by the Ministry;
(3)compliance with the targets set pursuant to section 5(c);
(4)the maximum, minimum and average prices at which single-use carrier bags were sold.
(b)A report pursuant to this section shall be published on the Ministry's website.

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Chapter III: Financial Penalty

Section A: Imposition of a Financial Penalty

Financial Penalty§
13.
(a)Where a person has violated a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law as detailed below, the Administrator may impose on that person a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, in the amount of NIS 23,870, and if the person is a corporation – in the amount of NIS 47,750:
(1)a large retailer that made available to a customer or delivered to a customer a single-use carrier bag without collecting from the customer a payment therefor, or where the payment collected was lower than the amount referred to in section 4(a), contrary to the provisions of that section;
(2)a large retailer that did not submit a report to the Administrator or did not furnish to the Administrator or to a person authorised by the Administrator information that served for the preparation of the report, contrary to the provisions of section 8;
(3)a large retailer that did not maintain a full and detailed record or did not permit the Administrator or a person authorised by the Administrator to inspect the record, contrary to the provisions of section 10.
(b)Where a person has violated a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law as detailed below, the Administrator may impose on that person a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, in the amount of NIS 11,940, and if the person is a corporation – in the amount of NIS 23,870:
(1)a large retailer that, in a distance sale transaction, did not enable a customer to notify it of how many single-use carrier bags the customer wishes to purchase, did not notify the customer of the maximum reasonable number of carrier bags it intends to sell to the customer, or did not obtain the customer's consent to being charged the payment, contrary to the provisions of section 4(c)(2);
(2)a large retailer that did not indicate, separately, in an invoice issued to a customer, the number of single-use carrier bags sold to the customer and the price paid therefor, contrary to the provisions of section 4(d).
(c)Where a dealer has made available to a customer, delivered to a customer, or sold to a customer a carrier bag whose thickness is less than 20 microns, contrary to the provisions of section 3, the Administrator may impose on the dealer a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter in the amount of NIS 1,190, if the dealer is a corporation – in the amount of NIS 2,390, and if the dealer is a large retailer – in the amount of NIS 5,970.
(d)Where a large retailer has made available to a customer, delivered to a customer, or sold to a customer a bag that comes into direct contact with food and that has handles, contrary to the provisions of section 4(b), the Administrator may impose on the large retailer a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter in the amount of NIS 5,970.
(e)Where an office holder in a corporation has not established rules and procedures pursuant to section 11(b), the Administrator may impose on the office holder a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, in the amount of NIS 11,940.
(f)Where a person has violated a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law enumerated in the Schedule, the Administrator may impose on that person a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter in the amount specified in the Schedule in respect of that violation.
Violation in Aggravating Circumstances§
14.

Where the Administrator has reasonable grounds to believe that a large retailer or a dealer has violated a provision of the provisions detailed in section 13 or in the Schedule, in aggravating circumstances, the Administrator may impose on the large retailer or dealer a financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter in an amount equal to 1.5 times the amount of the financial penalty that may be imposed for that violation pursuant to section 13 or pursuant to the Schedule; in this section, "aggravating circumstances" – a violation relating to several shops or points of sale of the dealer.

Notice of Intention to Charge§
15.
(a)Where the Administrator has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has violated a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law, as referred to in section 13 (in this Chapter – the violator), and the Administrator intends to impose on the violator a financial penalty pursuant to that section, the Administrator shall deliver to the violator a notice of the intention to impose a financial penalty on the violator (in this Chapter – notice of intention to charge).
(b)In the notice of intention to charge, the Administrator shall indicate, inter alia, the following:
(1)the act or omission (in this Chapter – the act) constituting the violation;
(2)the amount of the financial penalty and the period for its payment;
(3)the violator's right to state arguments before the Administrator pursuant to the provisions of section 16;
(4)the authority to add to the amount of the financial penalty on account of a continuing violation or a repeated violation, pursuant to the provisions of section 18, and the date from which a violation shall be deemed a continuing violation for the purposes of that section.
Right to be Heard§
16.

A violator to whom a notice of intention to charge has been delivered pursuant to the provisions of section 15 may state arguments, in writing, before the Administrator, in respect of the intention to impose a financial penalty on the violator and in respect of its amount, within 30 days of the date of delivery of the notice, and the Administrator may extend the said period by a further period not exceeding 30 days.

Decision of the Administrator and Payment Demand§
17.
(a)The Administrator shall decide, after having considered the arguments stated pursuant to the provisions of section 16, whether to impose a financial penalty on the violator, and may reduce the amount of the financial penalty pursuant to the provisions of section 19.
(b)Where the Administrator has decided pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) –
(1)to impose a financial penalty on the violator – the Administrator shall deliver to the violator a demand, in writing, to pay the financial penalty (in this Chapter – payment demand), in which the Administrator shall indicate, inter alia, the updated amount of the financial penalty and the period for its payment;
(2)not to impose a financial penalty on the violator – the Administrator shall deliver to the violator notice thereof, in writing.
(c)In the payment demand or in the notice pursuant to subsection (b), the Administrator shall set out the reasons for the decision.
(d)Where the violator has not stated arguments pursuant to the provisions of section 16 within the period referred to in that section, the notice of intention to charge shall, upon the expiry of that period, be deemed a payment demand delivered to the violator on the said date.
Continuing Violation and Repeated Violation§
18.
(a)In the case of a continuing violation, one-fiftieth of the financial penalty prescribed for that violation shall be added thereto for each day on which the violation continues.
(b)In the case of a repeated violation, an amount equal to the financial penalty as aforesaid shall be added to the financial penalty prescribed for that violation; for this purpose, "repeated violation" – a violation of a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law as referred to in section 13, within two years of a previous violation of the same provision in respect of which a financial penalty was imposed on the violator.
(c)Where a provision of the provisions pursuant to this Law as referred to in section 13 has been violated three or more times within five years, an amount equal to double the financial penalty as aforesaid shall be added to the financial penalty prescribed for that violation.
Reduced Amounts§
19.
(a)The Administrator may not impose a financial penalty in an amount lower than the amounts prescribed in this Chapter or in the Schedule, except pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b).
(b)The Minister, with the consent of the Minister of Justice and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, may prescribe cases, circumstances and considerations by reason of which it shall be possible to impose a financial penalty in an amount lower than the amounts prescribed in section 13 or in the Schedule, and at the rates to be prescribed.
Updated Amount of the Financial Penalty§
20.
(a)The financial penalty shall be according to its updated amount on the date of delivery of the payment demand, and in respect of a violator who has not stated arguments before the Administrator, as referred to in section 17(d) – on the date of delivery of the notice of intention to charge; where an appeal against the payment demand has been filed pursuant to section 27 and the payment of the financial penalty has been stayed by the Administrator or the court, the financial penalty shall be according to the updated amount on the date of the decision on the appeal.
(b)The amounts of the financial penalty prescribed in section 13 or in the Schedule shall be updated on 1 January of each year (in this subsection – the update date), in accordance with the rate of increase of the index known on the update date as compared with the index known on 1 January of the preceding year; the said amount shall be rounded to the nearest amount that is a multiple of ten new Israeli shekels; for this purpose, "index" – the consumer price index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
(c)The Administrator shall publish in Reshumot (Official Gazette) a notice of the updated amounts of the financial penalty pursuant to subsection (b).
Time for Payment of the Financial Penalty§
21.

The violator shall pay the financial penalty within 30 days of the date of delivery of the payment demand referred to in section 17.

Instalment of Payment of the Financial Penalty§
22.
(a)The Director may, upon the request of the violator, decide on the payment by instalments of the financial penalty, provided that the number of instalments shall not exceed ten monthly instalments.
(b)If the violator fails to pay a monthly instalment on time, the Director's decision on payment by instalments as referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed void, and the provisions of section 23 shall apply to the balance of the payment of the financial penalty.
Shekel Interest and Default Charges§
23.

If the violator fails to pay a financial penalty on time, shekel interest and default charges shall be added to the financial penalty for the period of default until its payment, and the provisions of the Interest and Linkage Law shall apply, with the necessary modifications.

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LawHealthEnvironment

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