Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber, who also serves as president of the Chief Rabbinate Council, announced on Wednesday a potential policy shift that could significantly reduce the price of imported kosher meat.
Speaking at a conference of the Orthodox Union (OU) in Jerusalem, Ber revealed plans to allow other kosher certification bodies to oversee meat production abroad—so long as they meet the standards and customs of the Chief Rabbinate.
“The Chief Rabbinate doesn’t produce anything—it supervises,” Rabbi Ber said. “The one area it does produce is meat. About 140,000 tons are brought in each year under its own slaughter operations. There are problems with this.”
Currently, all imported meat must be slaughtered under the direct supervision of Chief Rabbinate emissaries. Teams of inspectors and slaughterers are regularly dispatched to cattle farms worldwide and only meat slaughtered or supervised by these teams is allowed into the country. Even meat certified under strict Orthodox standards abroad cannot be imported without their involvement.
The new proposal could break that monopoly. Rabbi Ber suggested the Rabbinate might begin cooperating with established international kosher authorities—like the OU—on condition they conform to Israeli standards and customs, including long-standing practices on methods of slaughter.
“Even if the animal is slaughtered standing or sitting, the OU can do what it wants for the U.S. but for Israel it must follow our customs,” he said. “We won’t change them.”
A key part of the reform would be separating the business interests of importers from the supervisory roles of kosher inspectors. Ber criticized the current arrangement, in which importers pay inspectors directly—sometimes large sums—which he said creates conflicts of interest. “Even angels would have trouble ignoring the importers' instructions under these conditions,” he said.
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Under the new system, importers would pay a fee to the Chief Rabbinate, which would then independently assign inspectors—without input from the importer or the certifying body.
“Importers actually want this,” Rabbi Ber added, “because it would let them rely on local slaughterers abroad instead of bringing them from Israel.” While the Rabbinate wouldn’t issue its own certifications in such cases, it would maintain full oversight.
Sending slaughter teams overseas, housing them for extended stays in hotels and covering salaries currently costs Israeli taxpayers millions of shekels each year. The Chief Rabbinate's exclusive involvement has also limited competition in the meat market.
If implemented, Ber’s plan could reduce supervision costs by allowing pre-approved, local Orthodox authorities abroad to handle the process, provided they meet Chief Rabbinate standards. It could also expand Israel’s sources of kosher meat imports.
The announcement came during the OU’s annual kosher conference in Jerusalem, which brought together hundreds of rabbis from across the Orthodox spectrum for a day of study and discussion on kosher practices.