Fakhoury puts food import ban on ice because of budget debate

The food import ban due to take effect on October 1 has been put on hold because of the cabinet's preoccupation with next year's budget, Lebanese Agriculture Minister Shawki Fakhoury said on September 30. However, he vowed that the plan, which is designed to protect local agriculture and industries and halve the nation's $1.5 billion US annual food import bill, will be implemented soon.

The original plan had three categories-banned food imports, items which would bear customs duties and others which could be imported only during specific times of the year.

The list created such an uproar, especially in the food industry which depends heavily on imports as raw materials, that it has been revised at least twice.

Emerging from a meeting with Prime Minister Hariri, Fakhoury said everything would remain the same "until we impose our plan for protecting local produce, primarily through higher customs duties."

Fakhoury also said that as of today Lebanese farmers are free to export grapes to Jordan until the end of the year, under an agreement he signed during his visit to Amman earlier this week.

Fakhoury said the two countries had signed a new agricultural calendar which amended the times of the year when vegetables from Lebanon would be allowed into Jordan, especially grapes and apples, which are facing a marketing crisis here.

"The Jordanian market has always been a good one for Lebanese products," he said.