Israel to increase imports of kosher meat
According to a Global Agricultural Information Network report published by the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service from its post in Tel Aviv, the CR has said he will ease kosher slaughter regulations in order to increase the amount of eligible imports, in a bid to reduce the cost of imported food.
The slaughtering process will be carried out by those employed by the CR, who will certify the meat from slaughtered cattle as kosher.
Approved kosher slaughter in foreign countries is only conducted in a limited number of slaughterhouses, which have adjusted their slaughter and processing lines to comply with CR regulations, which require ‘Jerusalem Slaughter’ to take place.
The importer of the meat employs slaughterers and flies them to Israel at their expense, meaning that the cost of imported meat is expensive from the start. The preference is for the most respected kosher labels – Mehadrin and Badatz – which can be consumed by all who are kosher-observant. However, this further inflates the price, according to the report.
"The problem with top kosher is that 30%-50% of the meat that can be certified kosher (regular) is disqualified by Badatz slaughterers and sold in local markets as non-kosher meat and, of course, reduces the offered quantity of kosher meat for export," it said.
However going forward the Chief Rabbinate Council has decided that all teams of slaughterers travelling abroad will include people who deal in ‘kashrut’ – the kosher supervision and kosher law system – for the CR. Their role will be to certify the meat that comes from kosher-slaughtered cattle is "kosher", but this meat is still disqualified by the Badatz.
It is believed this move could increase imports by 20-30%. However the author of the report said the decision was "unprecedented and unusual", with importers of kosher meat sceptical that the steps will realistically translate to lower prices.
"Practically, the main problem that prevents a price reduction in beef prices in Israel is the ‘Law Against Fraud in Kashrut’ from 1994, which bans imports of non–kosher meat. While imports of all other non–kosher food products, including cheese and non-kosher seafood, is allowed, imports of non-kosher meat are completely forbidden," concluded the report.
