Rami Levy retail chain was fined and will pay NIS 2.6 million

The Quotas Committee in the Ministry of Economy and Industry has completed its periodic review and has imposed sanctions on a number of importers. It should be noted that the Quotas Committee consists of representatives of the Ministry of Economy and a representative of the Ministry of Finance and includes advice from the Competition Authority and close legal assistance. The committee manages the division, monitoring and enforcement process, which is carried out with the assistance of the Trade Enforcement Administration, the Ministry of Economy and Industry. The committee members have held many meetings in recent weeks, including collecting data, analyzing reports, receiving information and holding written and oral hearings for the test subjects and the following are its findings.
Rami Levy violated the provisions of the competitive procedure for importing meat, in relation to the sale of discounted minced meat to the consumer, and as a result, the committee ordered the forfeiture of 50% of the guarantees deposited by the company, NIS 5.2 million, so that it will pay NIS 2.6 million. The committee decided to forfeit the guarantees after Rami Levy received warnings about price violations at its branches, but did not correct the violations as required. The Quotas Committee was presented with inspections carried out by representatives of the ministry's enforcement unit at the Rami Levy branches, which showed that in some branches, the chain sold minced meat imported as part of the procedure at a price 67% higher than the price it committed as a condition for allocating the quota. In some of the branches, consumers were not presented with fresh minced meat at a price of NIS 29 and no signage was presented as required, as it undertook as a condition for allocating the quota.
The committee also decided to deprive Goldfrost of a 164-tonne cheese quota, which it was entitled to receive this year as part of another distribution to the winners of the quotas for the competitive procedure for importing cheese, due to deficiencies in reporting to the committee on points of sale. Regarding complaints received by the Ministry of Economy, according to which the cheese imported by Goldfrost in quotas was not sold to consumers, an inspection conducted by the Quotas Committee, including in the company's reports verified by an external accountant for the company, found that the company sold about 1,200 tons of cheese to retail channels.
Net Melinda received a notice following violations at a few points of sale, in which meat was not sold at prices to which Net Melinda undertook, as a condition for allocating the quota as part of the competitive procedure at private butchers. The company repaired the defects.
The committee decided with respect to all importers that in the event of additional defects and violations, the possibility of taking additional sanctions would be considered, including forfeiture of additional guarantees, prevention of future quotas in competitive proceedings and even denial of existing quotas won by importers in competitive proceedings.