Nassib crossing reopens today, Lebanese banana to Syria again

The Syrian interior minister Mohamad Ibrahim Shaar announced yesterday that Syria and Jordan have agreed to open Nassib border crossing as of today, Monday October 15, after being closed for three years. Shaar, told SANA that the joint Syrian-Jordanian technical committee has convened at the Jordan Jaber border crossing checkpoint and agreed on all arrangements and logistics to this effect. In a related context, Al Diyar newspaper reported today that Lebanese trucks carrying made-in-Lebanon goods via Nassib through Syria into Jordan and the GCC countries will be denied entry because the Lebanese government and prime minister Hariri still refuse to sign an agreement with the Syrian government that regulates transit movement. On the issue of banana export to Syria, and after promises by the agriculture minister, Ghazi Zeiater’s to resolve the impasse, An Nahar daily said on Saturday that the Syrian authorities have agreed to re-import the Lebanese bananas into their markets starting October 15 based on a new import mechanism that enforces an extra import tax (between 60 and 65 Syrian Liras for each kilogram of banana, that is USD 130 for each ton). This is part of the so-called added tax for supporting the reconstruction and families of martyrs in Syria.  (An Nahar, Al Diyar, October 13, 15, 2018)
 
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