Israel’s laws related to trade are the Standard Act, Trade Tax Act, Customs Act, Free Trade Act and Customer Protection Act and so on. In general, Israel adopts a free trade policy and has signed a free trade agreement with America, EU and the like. It is a member of WTO.
The trade of industrial products in Israel is highly liberal. Products requiring import licenses are out of security consideration, only accounting 7.8% of the HS (the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System) category. Also, its tax on import products is same as domestic products.
At the moment, Israel mainly implements import limitation policies in fields such as agriculture, food, medical products, chemical products and products concerning security. Limitations include high tariff, seasonal regulation tax (mainly fruits and vegetables), various of import tax and fees, security measure, TRQ, quantity limit, license, hygiene and plant quarantine inspection, safety, environmental protection, and technological standards.
As a member of the World Customs Organization, Israel’s goods categorization adopts the internationally-accepted HS. It’s also a member of WTO. According to WTO, the dutiable value of products mainly depends on the paid price of the importer. Tax amount is calculated in terms of percentage. Only a few goods adopt a fixed tax amount or a calculation method combing the two ways. Israel conducts customs inspection on import goods and collects different taxes and fees according to the HS code. Import tariff is formulated by the Tariff and VAT Division of the Finance Department. Specific clearance businesses are in the charge of the customs of ports of entry.