Over the last few days, Merav Arllozorov – one of the better business journalists in Israel - has had a series of articles highlighting the regulatory nightmare that accompanies all Israeli importers (Hebrew links). She has highlighted the monopoly of the Orwellian named “Standards Institute” which is supposed to “protect” Israeli consumers from the shoddy production standards of countries like Germany, Canada, United States, Japan and other countries well below our standards.
She has also written about the high cost of the ports (again a government mandated monopoly) as well as the various taxes that are also a main reason for the high cost of imported products.
These are some of the things she has listed:
- 60% of imported products need to pass two tests by the “Standards Institute” . The first approves the individual model and the second for each shipment that arrives at the port to make sure that it is the right model. She compares this with having to get a driver’s license and then having to take an additional driving test each morning before we step into the car.
- Revenues of this (shoddy) Standards Institute are over 300 million shekel.
- The time needed to approve a new product for import to Israel: 7-8 weeks. The cost: 50,000 shekel. This is true each time there is a small change on the model – for example when Siemens or Maytag adds a feature to a washing machine.
- Ministry of Health has extra regulations for “non official” importers. Only the official importer of Colgate toothpaste can import it. Yiftach Shaked has tried unsuccessfully to import toothpaste and sell it for half the price of what it currently sells for in Israel.
Of course she is correct and we need to eliminate or at least limit these regulations. But for a start what if the government just let individuals import products for personal use without the hassle and taxes that we need to put up with now?
Why not allow us to order via Amazon, Walmart, Lands End, Drugstore.com and other online providers?
Why not allow us to fend for ourselves in the global marketplace instead of having to depend on monopolies and unions so we can buy a shirt or a garden hose or a book?
Why not allow us to order toothpaste, deodorant, dental floss, clothes and have them shipped here without having the hassle of being an “importer”?
Why not? Because who will protect us children from ourselves if not bureaucrats, politicians, lawyers and judges?
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