Product Compliance
in Israel

The only statutory body in Israel that develops and establishes standards is The Standards Institution of Israel (SII).  “The Standards Law of 1953” created by an act of the Knesset (Parliament), makes SII’s responsible for the preparation, publication of technical specifications and standards for products and services, both produced locally and imported. Currently the SII is the only institution in Israel that is in charge of standardization, conformity assessment, testing, product certification, certification of the management system and relevant training activities.

In 2021, the Ministry of Economy and Industry issued “An Israel Import and Export Decree (Import Groups).” The law updates Israel’s Import Groups Regime and simplifies the conformity assessment requirements for imported products subject to Israel Mandatory Standards.

There are presently about 500 obligatory standards required in Israel (excluding food) subject to the  regulatory scheme. They are divided into four groups with respect to the potential risks to consumers linked with the product. As part of the reform being conducted, only 150 standards will fall into group 1 which consists of those linked with the greatest risks and the highest requirements for testing and certification. The rest of the standards will be relocated and classified under groups 2 and 3 , those of lower risks and lower requirements of testing and certification. Group 4 relates to products intended for industrial use. The reclassification of these standards will be followed by intensified market supervision.

The process of implementation of this reform was launched in May 2021 and is supposed to be completed by March 2023.

The group of products subject to mandatory Israeli standards consists of, among others:

• Electrical products
• Engineering products
• Metalware
• Construction products
• Fire extinguishing products
• Medical devices
• Individual protection means
• Telecommunication equipment
• Chemical production
• Food products
• Goods for kids
• Cosmetic products
• Fuel products
• Sanitary and hygienic products
• Woodworking products
• Other consumer products

The body responsible for product and system certification programs is The Standards Institute of Israel (SII). Application of the Standards Mark is generally voluntary but Israeli law indicates that certain groups of products have to certified before they are located on the market. Products that qualify for the Standards Mark have to meet the requirements of the applicable standards, and be produced by a company  with an approved quality assurance system, similar to ISO 9002.

The Standards Mark is the evidence that a product bearing it meets the requirements of the applicable standards, which ensure the quality and of this product.

The right to mark  products with the Standards Mark symbols is given to manufacturers by The Standards Mark system gives. Before it is granted the Standards Institution has to be convinced that the product meets the requirements of the applicable standards and also that the manufacturer has capability to guarantee proper production process, testing devices, and methods of supervision to ensure the quality and safety of the products. The Standards Institution also supervises the quality of management, manufacturing process and tests of the products on on-going basis to ensure that the product is in compliance with the standards.

A licence to mark a product with a Standard Mark can be granted to:

• Any manufacturer of a product recognized by the Standards Institution as pursuant to the Israeli standards and that the standard has been found compatible for licensing.
• Any importer which has an agreement with a manufacturer for operating on the market under the importer’s name.

The market approval of products containing wireless technologies for Israel is subject to the certification process conducted by the MoC . The MoC’s requirements are based on those issued by the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) for market approval in Europe. Accordingly, MoC accepts reported results of test conducted for a CE marking, so that there is no need to test products in laboratories in Israel. This is convenient for producers who have to wait between ten and twelve weeks for an MoC certification at the end of which a local representative from Israel has to be involved.

After a successful product approval by the authority, the manufacturer is obligated to mark its product for the Israeli market with the MoC approval label.

The list of products that require MoC Type Approval consists of, among others:

Radio transmitter, RFID equipment, contactless card readers, other products that incorporate some kind of RF transmitter, radio terminal devices, Bluetooth devices, Zigbee devices, WiMAX devices, automotive radars, etc.