Foreign Trade Administration

The Foreign Trade Administration (FTA) at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry manages and supports Israel’s international trade and trade policy. Through our headquarters in Jerusalem together with over 40 economic and trade missions in key financial centers throughout the world, the FTA promotes Israel’s economy worldwide.

Israel’s economic and trade missions are at the forefront of the Israeli government’s efforts to boost our industries in foreign markets. Our team of highly experienced economic representatives and business consultants provide a wide range of services to Israeli companies and to the international business community.

General

The Foreign Trade Administration (FTA) at the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry manages and supports Israel’s international trade and trade policy. Through our headquarters in Jerusalem together with over 40 economic and trade missions in key financial centers throughout the world, the FTA promotes Israel’s economy worldwide.

Israel’s economic and trade missions are at the forefront of the Israeli government’s efforts to boost our industries in foreign markets. Our team of highly experienced economic representatives and business consultants provide a wide range of services to Israeli companies and to the international business community.

The FTA is divided into three main divisions, each promoting the Israeli economy in distinct and significant ways:

• The Trade Promotion Division – works to ensure the continued development of Israel’s exports.
• The Trade Policy and International Agreements Division – responsible for Israel’s free trade agreements, maintaining and developing inter-governmental relations and addressing regulatory barriers that affect Israeli industry.
• The International Projects and Financing Division – offers different programs that support Israeli companies in their business operations abroad.

The Trade Policy and International Agreements Division

The International Branch is responsible for promoting and maintaining international agreements. The Branch is divided into three departments:

1. The Department for Multi-Lateral Agreements – which leads the activity opposite the organizations shaping the policy and trade rules in the world today, such as the WTO. The developments in the organizations and Israel’s active participation in those processes, actually dictate the pace of progress and participation of Israel in the world globalization processes, which eventually enable Israel to improve and expand its trade possibilities.
2. The Department for Bi-Lateral Agreements – which negotiates new trade agreements of the state of Israel, with the objective of preventing the discrimination of the local industry and securing our position in the various markets. The Department deals with the continuous handling of these agreements, in order to preserve the rights achieved for the Israeli industry.
3. The Department for Import Policy and OECD – the Department deals with the formalization of the policy of import to Israel and with simplification of foreign trade procedures. In addition, the department deals with representing Israel in the OECD – the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.

The Trade Promotion Division

The Branch is responsible for promoting the export and operating the representative offices abroad. For that purpose it is divided into regional desks which operate a chain of professional commercial attachés around the world. The geographic desks include the following areas: Europe (1+2), America, Asia-Pacific and Africa, India-China, The Middle East and North Africa.

The activity includes, among other things, the following activities:

• Operating the economic representatives’ arrangement.
• Setting policy and priorities for the activity in the countries.
• Promoting the economic and trade relations with the countries under its responsibility.
• Organizing and handling business and/or governmental delegations to the country and from it.
• Supervising and controlling activity, personnel and budgets of the economic representative office.
• Issuing publicity material for distribution abroad, for presenting the economic-industrial potential of Israel.
• Preparing regional and branch surveys for the use of the exporters.
• Hosting foreign journalists in Israel and accompanying them through their visit in the industry.
• Conducting seminars and meetings with businessmen in Israel and abroad.
• Participating in commercial exhibitions of the field around the world.

Alongside the geographic departments there are also the Foreign Relations and Official Guests Department, as well as the Department for Foreign Trade Budgets and Export Registration.

In the Administration there is also the Trade Levies Unit. Its role is to protect local production against substantial injury caused by competing imports and/or dumped imports and preventing damage to the field by imposing trade levies.