30,000 Illegal Eggs Seized by Agriculture Officers

Israel Department of Agriculture officials said that they seized a shipment of over 30,000 illegal eggs they said were destined for markets and groceries in Yerushalayim earlier this week. The eggs were produced in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Yehudah and Shomron, and sported fraudulent approval stamps of Israeli agricultural agencies.

According to investigators, the eggs were produced on farms in the Yerushalayim area. The eggs were found in trucks that had false walls, with the eggs hidden inside. The eggs were deemed “dangerous,” and were taken to be destroyed.

While importing such eggs to Israel is illegal, many Israelis do take advantage of the substantially lower prices of eggs in PA villages to save as much as 40 percent over the cost of eggs in Israeli supermarkets. Aware of the problem, the government is seeking to allow the import of eggs from abroad to help lower the prices for consumers. Like with many of the other products that have seen their duties slashed, eggs are largely marketed by one company – Tnuva – and as a result, the government believes, egg prices in Israel are significantly higher than they are abroad.

On Monday, schools and businesses of the Maale Yosef, Mevuot Chermon, and Merom Galil regional councils in northern Israel were largely closed, as heads of those councils called on residents to protest the planned relaxing of the import duties. Farmers in those three areas are responsible for providing 70 percent of the eggs in the Israeli market.