Dairy farmers revolt over Israeli market reforms

Dairy farmers in Israel have said they will stop supplying milk this week due to the proposed reforms to the country’s centralised coordination mechanism, which has existed since the nation’s founding, according to the Times of Israel. (timesofisrael.com). The reforms are set to cut milk production in Israel by one-third, while cutting the price of a litre of milk by 15% and abolishing tariffs of up to 40% in order to open up the domestic market to imports.

This plan was approved last December. The reform is expected to be included in the economic arrangements bill, a package of proposals that are linked to the country’s annual state budget vote. Amit Ifrach, the chairman of the Israel Farmers’ Association, has welcomed a move by the Knesset’s legal advisor to remove the dairy reform proposal from the bill.