Industrialists Urge Treasury to Support Anti-Dumping Duty on Cannabis Imports

Dr. Ron Tomer, President of the Industrialists Association, called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this morning to support the decision of Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat to impose a Anti-Dumping Duty on the import of medical cannabis flowers from Canada to Israel as soon as possible.

The Association's president wrote to the Finance Minister that "importing cannabis from Canada poses a real threat to the existence of the local industry, whose collapse could lead to a shortage of medical cannabis in Israel, an increase in import prices, and almost complete dependence on Canada, which currently supplies about 90% of the cannabis imported into Israel. Therefore, it is inconceivable that at a time when Canada openly boycotts Israel, does not allow Israeli imports into its territory, and has declared an outright and blatant arms embargo - the Israeli government will grant it a 'prize' and allow it to export its surplus Canadian production to Israel while destroying the local industry".

The letter also noted that the import volumes of cannabis from Canada under unfair trade conditions and at dumping prices have already caused enormous damage and "seriously harmed the medical cannabis industry in Israel, leading to the closure of farms and production facilities, erasing investments of billions of shekels (some of them public funds) and, unfortunately, also the loss of livelihoods for thousands of families. This, despite the fact that the cannabis industry in Israel was one of the pioneers and most promising in the field in the world and was able to fully and competitively supply all local demand both in terms of quantities and in terms of quality, availability, and safety - at the highest level, and even export its products competitively to various countries in the world, where the practice of dumping and unfair trade is not accepted".

The Association's president concluded and wrote that preserving the cannabis industry will lead to the economic flourishing of the sector, create jobs, and strengthen the local economy. "Imposing the Anti-Dumping Duty is not only a necessary step to preserve the existence of the cannabis sector in Israel, but also a lever for economic growth with a significant contribution to the local market and the state treasury. The duty will enable the expansion of the sector, the creation of thousands of new jobs, and will encourage significant investments in the establishment, upgrading, and improvement of advanced farms and production facilities, alongside investments in research and development. In this way, Israel will be able to re-establish itself as a global leader in the medical cannabis sector - as it was in the past... In light of the above, I call on you to adopt the conclusions of the advisory committee and support the decision of the Minister of Economy and Industry on the subject".