Lebanon to block apple, potato imports

On Monday 26 September, Lebanon's Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb announced a decision that woul…

On Monday 26 September, Lebanon's Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb announced a decision that would block companies from importing certain produce without prior approval. The move seems to be a response to demands by local farmers, struggling to sell their products.

According to the ministry's decree, importers of frozen apples, pears and potatoes will now be required to obtain a license from the Agriculture Ministry, according to a ministry statement carried by the state-run National News Agency.

Earlier in the day, apple farmers in the coastal city of Jbeil held a brief demonstration to demand the government take action over what they said were barriers to selling their products. The farmers briefly cut off the highway from Jbeil toward Beirut and dumped their apples on the street.

"The noose around the farmers' necks is tightening by the day. Five million boxes will be wasted because they are not going to be sold," state media quoted Wehbi as saying.

The farmers later opened the highway after receiving assurances that they would meet with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Chehayeb, according to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.3).

Chehayeb had said, in an interview with OTV earlier on Monday, that he was working with Salam to find a way to help farmers refrigerate their apples to improve the market price of the produce.

He added that he is trying to secure a deal with Russia to export Lebanese apples, blaming the farmers’ lack of access to external markets on the Syrian crisis, the closure of land borders as well as the fluctuation of the Egyptian currency.

Lebanon’s agricultural sector has in part been impacted by the ongoing conflict in neighboring Syria.

Last week, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, suggested that international organisations assist Lebanon in finding a market for the country’s produce. “I had previously spoken with several countries and international organisations and did so again while at the United Nations. My conviction has grown that the best outlet for apples is by obliging refugee organisations to buy them,” Bassil said in a tweet on Sept. 22.