Last year, the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed a reform
to Israeli competition law. The newly legislated section 31f (a) of
the Economic Competition Law, 1988 (formerly the Restrictive Trade
Practices Law, 1988), enables the Israeli Antitrust Commissioner
(the "Commissioner") to impose instructions on a
Direct Importer. Such instructions do not imply a prior violation
of the law. In addition, such instructions can only be imposed if
the Commissioner finds that, as a result of the Direct
Importer's status or behavior, there is concern of significant
harm to parallel or private import, and, as a result, significant
harm to competition in the relevant sector.
Recently, The Israeli Competition Authority
("ICA") announced that it started a first
hearing procedure to apply section 31f, in the matter of
Shestowitz, who is Colgate's representative in Israel, and
distributor of the Colgate toothpaste brand.
