Syria agreed to import banana in exchange for citrus, but what about Lebanon?

A number of news portals reported that the Syrian government agreed on the first of November to allow the import of Lebanese bananas in exchange for citrus fruits. Accordingly, Syria is ready to import one kilogram of Lebanese banana in exchange for five kilograms of Syrian citrus products. The agreement will apply as of the first of this month and until April of next year. On this matter, the president of the Lebanese Farmers Association, Antoine Howayek, reiterated, in an interview with Al Akhbar newspaper yesterday, the direct cause of the banana crisis which is the decision last April by agriculture minister, Akram Shehayeb to ban the entry into Lebanon of all made-in-Syria fruits and vegetables until February 2017. What is surprising though, is that neither the ministry nor any of the local media channels have referred to the recent Syrian decision. Al Akhbar, citing agriculture ministry sources, said that negotiations were underway between the two countries and that the Syrian side was responsive. Howayek also criticized government’s failure to deal with challenges facing agriculture, recalling his prognosis way back in 2007 of a tragic death of the banana sector. His warning, Howayek clarified, came after Syria decided to impose tariffs on all foreign banana imports, with the exception of Lebanese banana, in line with the Arab Free Trade Agreement that gave Lebanon a differential trade margin allowing it to compete in the Syrian market. Today, Howayek went on to say, the country produces nearly 250 thousand tons of banana annually, 60% of which are consumed locally and 40% are intended for export. The Syrian market, however, represented around 90% of the Lebanese banana estimated at 95 thousand tons and that is before the break of the Syria war, Howayek. Thereafter, the Lebanese government has struggled to find new external outlets, but to no avail with only Jordan importing 10 thousand tons per yea, a quantity which clearly does not compensate for the loss of the Syrian market, Howayek concluded. (Al Akbar, Al Diyar, November 7 and 8, 2016)

 

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