Hag Hannuka Sameah !

EU - Israel Agreement concerning liberalization measures on agricultural and processed agricultural products 19/11/2009

The agreement, which takes effect on 1 January 2010, is expected to lead to liberalization of approximately 95% in trade of processed agricultural products between Israel and the EU and to significantly increase the competitiveness of the Israeli food industry exports to Europe.

Negotiations led by the Foreign Trade Administration of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor along with the Ministry of Agriculture, resulted in an historic agreement in the field of agriculture and processed foods between Israel and the European Union. This agreement is part of an overall policy of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor to help traditional industries to expand their exports significantly by achieving better legal infrastructure and increasing employment in the periphery.

Boaz Hirsh, the Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, reports that "the agreement was reached after lengthy negotiations that ended with very satisfying results. Unlike previous agreements with the European Union in the field, this agreement marked tendency towards the Israeli side and we expect that it will change the face of trade with EU food sector in the coming years".

The new agreement includes many benefits and enables a significant extension of the range of food products exported to the EU without restrictions. Food products such as chocolate, bakery products, pasta, coffee, fruit juices bases, honey and fresh salads, which to date had a limited access to European markets due to high levies or limited quotas, will enjoy an exemption from customs duties and other levies. Other benefits will be applied to various products.

European market is the primary market for the Israeli processed food industry: the origin of 50% of total food imports to Israel is the European Union and 44% of total exports sector is facing EU markets, worth $ 650 million.

According to Hirsch, it is estimated that the Israeli food companies will significantly increase the sales to the European market, which numbers about 500 million consumers. In addition, small and medium food manufacturers who did not export up until now due to the levies, will be able to begin export in light of the improved terms of trade.

The agreement shall enter into force on 1st January 2010. Notification of the distribution of quotas for the coming year will be posted soon.

To read the agreement click here.

For further details, contact:
Moran Buganim
Department of Bilateral Trade Agreements
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Moran.buganim@moital.gov.il

Request for Proposals - Pavia: Water Distribution and Related Services

According to the National Decree n. 135 art. 15 of 25 september 2009 modifing the art. 23 bis of the Law 133/2008, ATO of Pavia is going to liberalize the water supply through an European call for tenders.

http://www.atopavia.it/allegati/Bando_di_gara_e_Disciplinare_di_Gara.pdf or http://dgm.export.gov.il/tenders/np-notice.do~4512462

For information, please write directly to: g.erogatore@atopavia.it
Deadline for the inspection: 9 December 2009

Israeli Delegation to Medica

With over 900 medical device companies, Israel is constantly generating and developing new innovations, many of which will be exhibited in November. With Medica fast approaching, we look forward to increasing our cooperation with you and providing you with the opportunity to meet with Israeli medical device companies. A successful Medica will yield many new business initiatives and further cooperation between Israel and Italy. To that end, we will make every effort to coordinate meetings between you and relevant Israeli medical device companies throughout the duration of the trade fair.
36 Israeli companies will attend the National Pavillion of Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute: Hall 16 Booth G32.
Highly sophisticated medical devices:
Infectius Control
None & Minimal Invasive
Wound Mng.
Cardiovascular
Diagnostic
Hospital Equipment
EMS
Aesthetics
Womnen Health
Telemedicine
Drug Delivery / Pain Mng.
But also Designers’ companies and Service Providers.
The Israeli Trade Offices are available to organize pre-schedule agendas of meetings to all companies interested.

Israeli companies at IBC Amsterdam 2009

The 2009 edition of IBC Amsterdam took place from the 10th to the 15th of September. The event is dedicated to the media industry composed of a conference followed by a fair where firms can exhibit and promote their latest products.

An important delegation of Israeli firms took part in the event, exploiting this opportunity to show their state-of-the-art solutions dedicated to the media industry.

The Israeli team was coordinated by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. At the following link: http://innovations-ibc2009.com/ one can find a website which offers an overview of the operations of Israeli firms in this sector and a short description of the members of the delegation.

For the first time for this event, our Office has been operative in promoting meetings among Italian firms taking part in the event and their Israeli counterparts.

The promotion was successful and could be regarded as an excellent first step with respect to the promotion in the future of Israeli firms operating in the media industry in our country.

Italian Anti-Crisis measures: Capital Equipment

The governmental plan aimed to combat the international economic crisis is described in a governmental decree called "Decreto anticrisi giugno 2009"; in the link below the complete text from the Government's website:

http://www.governo.it/GovernoInforma/Dossier/decreto_anticrisi260609/decretolegge300609.pdf

Article N^5 establishes that companies are allowed to cut their TAXABLE INCOME (and so paying taxes according to the reduced amount) to the value of 50% of the value of the NEW purchased machinery.

The conditions are:

1. the machinery must be new
2. the purchaser company is not allowed to resell the machinery for 4 years
3. the machinery must guarantee energy savings
4. the machinery must be handed over to the purchasing company by the 30th of June 2010.
5. the list of machinery included in this governmental aid program is included in the ATECO list: http://www.agenziaentrate.it/ilwwcm/resources/file/eb93ed4f1f8dd8b/Tabella_raccordo_Atecofin2004_ATECO2007_sei_cifre.pdf

Take a look at our calendar here

Monitoring the Italian economy - positive signs or more bad news?

One of the missions of this office is to monitor the local economy and provide indications to the Israeli exporters on this issue so that they can better conduct their business here.

Data just out (13 Aug.) from Eurostat indicates that the GDP in Italy dropped 0.5% in the second quarter of 2009. This is good news if compared with the previous quarter in which the GDP dropped 2.7% but it is less positive if compared with the average for the EU (-0.3%) and with the rise in GDP recorded in France, Germany, Greece and Portugal (+0.3%) in the 2nd quarter of 2009.

Estimates put out by various economic entities here in Italy such as ISTAT and ISAE and others outside of Italy indicate that the GDP for the entire year (2009) is expected to drop by approximately 5% and go back to being positive in 2010 - estimates range from 0.2% to 0.5% growth in GDP.

Italy is experiencing a decline in the demand for its goods abroad - a drop of 20% in its exports; a rise in the unemployment rates to a three year high of 7.9%; And, it has to deal with a staggering public debt (the third largest in the world after the US and Japan) expected to reach 115% of the GDP in 2009 and 120% of the GDP in 2010 (according to the IMF). The large public debt is making it difficult for the Italian government to offer substantial fiscal and other incentives to help drag the economy out of the recession. Italy is also having a harder time with its exports compared with Germany, for example, since a substantial part of it competes with cheaper products produced in developing countries.

Positive signs? As stated above the negative trends in various indicators seem to be slowing down. There is also a rise in consumer and manufacturing confidence. However, it looks like Italy's economy is still not out of the woods and will have to deal with many hurdles on the way to renewed economic growth.

For reviews in Hebrew on this issue see this link.