Produce exports find ‘tense atmosphere’ at border crossing with Syria & Iraq

Some Jordan fruit and vegetable dealers claim exports to Iraq and Syria are being affected by a “ten…

Some Jordan fruit and vegetable dealers claim exports to Iraq and Syria are being affected by a “tense trade atmosphere”. This was denied by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply.

The Jaber/Nasib border crossing with Syria was closed for three years due to the security situation in southern Syria, but it was reopened in October of last year. The Karamah/Tureibil border crossing with Iraq was also closed in 2015, but partially reopened in 2017. It is now set to undergo EU-funded rehabilitation so it can operate at its “full potential”, senior Iraqi and Jordanian officials recently told at a press conference.

However, President of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables Saadi Abu Hammad said his sector was still witnessing stagnant export rates after the reopening of both borders.

“The Iraqi side promised us they would be putting in large orders, and yet we have not sent one truck their way since we signed the agreement that exempted Jordanian goods from customs,” he told.

The sector, according to Abu Hammad, has not exported anything to Iraq in the last six months. “They say they have a sufficiency, but that was not what they said when we first signed the agreement.”