G/TBT/N/ISR/935  
 
9 June 2016  
(16-3124)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member: ISRAEL 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible: 
Israel WTO-TBT Enquiry Point 
Ministry of Economy and Industry 
Tel: + (972) 3 7347501 E-mail: Yael.Friedgut@economy.gov.il   
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above : 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10 .1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other: 
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applic able, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Foodstuffs (HS: Section 
I to IV – Chapters 1 to 24) 
5. Title, number of pages and langua ge(s) of the notified document: Public Health 
Regulations (Food) (Gluten Labelling) 5776 – 2016 (2 pages, in Hebrew) 
6. Description of content: Draft amendment to "Public Health Regulations (Food) (Gluten 
Labelling)" announced by Israel Ministry of Health. The original regulations published in 1996 had set out the obligation to label food containing gluten and determined the 
manufacturing procedure for "gluten free" food. The current amendment combines few 
changes that on the one hand expand the variety of gluten free products and on the other hand maintain safety and quality in order to protect the health of gluten intolerant consumers. The major changes introduced in this draft amendment are as follows:  
 Updates the definition of "gluten" to fit European regulations and Codex Alimentarius 
standards and applies international legislation and the Mendez Eliza R5 test method. 
 Adds a new definition for "designated factory" determining the GMP conditions for 
foodstuffs that do not contain gluten in their nature, such as rice, maze etc. In 
addition it adds a new sub-regulation 3(2)(b) determining that the fundamental condition for this type of food factories to label their products as "gluten free", is to 
apply a food safety system such as HACCP or any other system used to identify, 
analyze and monitor critical stations along the manufacturing procedure. 
 Adds a new sub-regulation 3(2)(c) allowing for imported food labelled as "gluten 
free" to be consider as a sensitive food, and as such, to be imported into Israel with 
an alternative GMP certificate issued by an IAF body (International Accreditation 
Forum). The official list of recognized bodies will be published on Israel's National Food Service's website. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: Protection of human health or safety  G/TBT/N/ISR/935 
 
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  8. Relevant documents: Public Health Regulations (Food) (Gluten Labelling) 5756 – 1996 
9. Proposed date of adoption: To be determined 
Proposed date of entry into force: To be determined   
10. Final date for comments: 30 days from notification 
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
Draft amendment to Public Health Regulations (Food) (Gluten Labelling) 5776-2016 
(Hebrew): http://www.economy.gov.il/st andartization/WTO_TBT/IS R_Text/PublicHealthReg-
Food-GlutenLabelling-Amd2016.pdf   
Public Health Regulations (Food) (Gluten Labelling) 5756 – 1996 (Hebrew): 
http://www.economy.gov.il/st andartization/WTO_TBT/ISR_ Text/PublicHeal thReg-Food-
GlutenLabelling-Original.pdf   
Explanations: http://www.economy.gov.il/standartization/WTO_TBT/ISR_Text/PublicHealthR
eg-Food-GlutenLabelling-Explanation.pdf