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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.

Section B: Administrative Warning

Administrative Warning§
24.
(a)If the Director has reasonable grounds to assume that a person has committed a violation of a provision of the provisions under this Law, as referred to in section 13, and the circumstances listed in procedures directed by the Director, with the approval of the Attorney General, have been met, the Director may serve on the violator, in lieu of a notice of intent to charge, an administrative warning in accordance with the provisions of this Section; procedures as aforesaid shall be published on the Ministry's website; in this Section, "Attorney General" — includes a Deputy Attorney General whom the Attorney General has authorised for this purpose.
(b)In an administrative warning the Director shall specify the act constituting the violation, shall notify the violator that the violator must cease the violation and that if the violator continues the violation or repeats it, the violator will be liable to a financial penalty for a continuing violation or a repeated violation, as the case may be, as referred to in section 18, and shall also specify the violator's right to request the cancellation of the warning in accordance with the provisions of section 25.
Application for Cancellation of an Administrative Warning§
25.
(a)Where an administrative warning has been served on a violator as referred to in section 24, the violator may apply to the Director in writing, within 30 days, for the cancellation of the warning on any of the following grounds:
(1)the violator did not commit the violation;
(2)the act committed by the violator, as detailed in the warning, does not constitute a violation.
(b)Where the Director has received an application for the cancellation of an administrative warning in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a), the Director may cancel the warning or reject the application and leave the warning in force; the Director's decision shall be given in writing and shall be delivered to the violator together with reasons.
Continuing Violation and Repeated Violation Following a Warning§
26.
(a)Where an administrative warning has been served on a violator in accordance with the provisions of this Section and the violator continued to commit the violation in respect of which the warning was served, the Director shall serve on the violator a payment demand for a continuing violation as referred to in section 18(a); a violator on whom a payment demand as aforesaid has been served may present arguments before the Director in respect of the continuation of the violation and the amount of the financial penalty, and the provisions of sections 16 and 17 shall apply, with the necessary modifications.
(b)Where an administrative warning has been served on a violator in accordance with the provisions of this Section and the violator again committed the violation in respect of which the warning was served, within two years of the date of delivery of the warning, the additional violation as aforesaid shall be deemed a repeated violation for the purposes of section 18(b) or (c), and the Director shall serve on the violator a notice of intent to charge in respect of the repeated violation; a violator on whom a notice of intent to charge has been served under section 15 in respect of the repeated violation may present arguments before the Director, and the provisions of sections 16 and 17 shall apply, with the necessary modifications.

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Section C: Miscellaneous Provisions

Appeal§
27.
(a)A final decision of the Director under this Chapter may be appealed to the Magistrate's Court in which the President of the Magistrate's Court sits; an appeal as aforesaid shall be filed within 45 days of the date on which notice of the decision was delivered to the violator.
(b)The filing of an appeal under subsection (a) shall not stay the payment of the financial penalty, unless the Director has consented thereto or the court has so ordered.
(c)If the court decides to allow an appeal filed under subsection (a), after the financial penalty has been paid in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, and orders the return of the amount of the financial penalty paid or the reduction of the amount of the financial penalty, the amount paid or any part thereof that was reduced shall be returned, with the addition of 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.
Publication§
28.
(a)Where the Director has imposed a financial penalty or served an administrative warning under this Chapter, the Director shall publish on the Ministry's website the following particulars, in a manner that ensures transparency with respect to the exercise of the Director's discretion:
(1)the imposition of the financial penalty or the service of the administrative warning and the reasons for the decision;
(2)the nature of the violation in respect of which the financial penalty was imposed or the administrative warning was served, and the circumstances of the violation;
(3)if a financial penalty was imposed — the amount of the financial penalty imposed;
(4)if the financial penalty was reduced — the circumstances on account of which the amount of the financial penalty was reduced and the rate of the reduction;
(5)relevant particulars concerning the violator;
(6)the name of the violator — if the violator is a corporation.
(b)Where an appeal has been filed under section 27, the Director shall publish notice of the filing of the appeal and its outcome.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(6), the Director may publish the name of a violator who is an individual, if the Director is of the opinion that this is necessary for the purpose of warning the public.
(d)Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the Director shall not publish particulars that constitute information which a public authority is precluded from disclosing under section 9(a) of the Freedom of Information Law, 5758-1998, and the Director may also refrain from publishing particulars under this section that constitute information which a public authority is not required to disclose under section 9(b) of that Law.
(e)Publication under this section in respect of a corporation shall be for a period of four years, and in respect of an individual — for a period of two years; the Director shall act to ensure that measures are taken to prevent, as far as possible, the ability to access particulars published under this section after the period referred to in this subsection has elapsed.
(f)The Minister may prescribe additional means of publishing the particulars referred to in this section.
Financial Penalty for a Violation under This Law and under Another Law§
29.

In respect of a single act constituting a violation of a provision of the provisions under this Law listed in section 13 and of a provision of the provisions under another law, no more than one financial penalty shall be imposed.

Preservation of Criminal Liability§
30.
(a)The payment of a financial penalty or the service of an administrative warning under this Chapter shall not derogate from a person's criminal liability for the violation of a provision of the provisions under this Law listed in section 13 that constitutes an offence.
(b)Where the Director has served on a violator a notice of intent to charge or has served on the violator an administrative warning in respect of a violation that constitutes an offence as referred to in subsection (a), an indictment shall not be filed against the violator in respect of that violation, unless new facts have been discovered that justify doing so.
(c)Where an indictment has been filed against a person in respect of a violation that constitutes an offence as referred to in subsection (a), the Director shall not take proceedings against that person under this Chapter in respect of that violation, and if the indictment was filed in the circumstances referred to in subsection (b) after the violator has paid a financial penalty, the amount paid shall be returned to the violator, with the addition of shekel interest from the date of payment of the amount 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.
Designation of Funds§
31.

A financial penalty paid under this Law shall be transferred to the Keep Israel Tidy Fund to the separate account referred to in section 6.

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Chapter IV: General Provisions

Collection§

32.

The provisions of the Fines, Fees and Costs Collection Authority Law, 5755-1995 shall apply to the collection of a levy and a financial penalty under this Law.

Application to the State§

33.

This Law shall apply to the State.

Savings Provisions§

34.

The provisions of this Law are intended to add to the provisions of any other law and not to derogate therefrom, including the provisions of the Packaging Treatment Regulation Law and the Consumer Protection Law.

Implementation and Regulations§

35.

The Minister is responsible for the implementation of this Law, and may, with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, make Regulations on any matter relating to its implementation.

Extension of Application to Additional Dealers§

36.
(a)Based on the data provided in reports under this Law and if the Minister has reasonable grounds to assume that for the purpose of advancing the objectives of this Law it is necessary to apply the provisions of this Law to additional dealers who are not large retailers, the Minister may, with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, so prescribe, provided that the Minister shall not so prescribe in respect of small dealers.
(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 in the Schedule that the amounts of the financial penalty that the Director may impose on dealers in respect of whom it has been prescribed under subsection (a) that this Law applies to them shall be lower than the amounts prescribed in section 13, having regard to the types of dealers and their size, taking into account, inter alia, their annual transaction turnover.
(c)In this section —

"small dealer" — a dealer who employs fewer than twenty employees and whose annual transaction turnover, including the transaction turnover of a person related to the dealer, does not exceed NIS 10,000,000;

"related person", in relation to a dealer — any of the following:

(1)the controlling shareholder of the dealer;
(2)a corporation controlled by the dealer or by the controlling shareholder of the dealer;

"transaction turnover" — the transaction turnover of a dealer as defined in the Value Added Tax Law, 5736-1975, and in respect of a non-profit institution as defined in that Law — turnover as defined in the Second Schedule to the Associations Law, 5740-1980;

"control" — as defined in the Securities Law, 5728-1968.

Amendment of the Administrative Courts Law – No. 96§

37.

In the Administrative Courts Law, 5760-2000, in the First Schedule, in item 23, at the end thereof the following shall be inserted:

"(13) A decision of an authority under the Law for the Reduction of the Use of Single-Use Carrier Bags, 5776-2016.".

Amendment of the Environmental Protection (Inspection and Enforcement Powers) Law – No. 5§

38.

In the Environmental Protection (Inspection and Enforcement Powers) Law, 5771-2011, in the First Schedule, after item 26 the following shall be inserted:

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

Commencement§

39.
(a)This Law shall commence on the 3rd of Tevet 5777 (1 January 2017) (hereinafter — the commencement date).
(b)
(1)During the period from the date of publication of this Law until the commencement date, a large retailer shall deliver to the Director, every three months, a report on the number of single-use carrier bags that the retailer purchased during the period in respect of which the report is submitted or at the last purchase date prior to the commencement of the period in respect of which the report is submitted, based on inventory movements as they are required to be recorded in the retailer's books of account under any law; a first report under this paragraph shall be delivered no later than the 25th of Sivan 5776 (1 July 2016);
(2)The Director or a person authorised by the Director for this purpose from among the employees of the Ministry may require a large retailer to furnish any information that was used in the preparation of a report under this subsection; where a large retailer is required to furnish information as aforesaid, the retailer shall furnish it at the time and in the manner specified in the requirement.

Setting of First Targets for the Reduction of the Use of Single-Use Carrier Bags§

40.

First targets for the reduction of the use of single-use carrier bags as referred to in section 5(c) shall be set by the 17th of Tammuz 5778 (30 June 2018).

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Schedule (Section 36)

Schedule (Section 36) — table
The DealerThe InfringementThe Amount of the Fine

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