Other news

In the wake of the successive bombings which hit the Bekaa region of Al Qa’a on Monday and Tuesday, the president of the syndicate of Hotel Owners in Lebanon, Pierre Ashkar, played down fears of losing a potentially successful summer season, acknowledging however that security and logistic preparedness for the season may have been affected by the deplorable terrorist events. Al Qa3, Ashkar said, is a remote border town relatively away from the well none and popular recreational areas. Similar incidents, he added, “have occurred in the neighboring town of Arsal but did not affect the touristic hubs in Mount Lebanon and the capital.” Tourism activity in Lebanon, Ashkar maintained, extends from Ehden in the North to Jezzine in the South and to Beirut. Outside the said zone, there are little signs of any significant touristic activity,” he claimed.  Ashkar added that it is early to assess of the impact of the bombings on hotel and flight bookings this summer in the country, indicating that the impact on the summer season would be more direct and massive should the bombings take place in Beirut or its environs.  (Al Diyar, June 29, 2016

 

In its follow-up of the crisis in agriculture, As Safir daily highlighted the plight of apple growers in the caza of Bsharri, despite the remarkable harvest expected to result in the production of some 1.5 million boxes of apples. As Safir portrayed the farmers’ fears of a repeated scenario of past years and spoke to one expert, Anwar Fakhree, who called for a clear agricultural public policy and export calendar that would avoid drowning the domestic market with surplus harvest. Fakhree pointed out that certain farmers are planning to sell their apple orchards, like he did when he has forced to sell two in order to cover his financial losses. The newspaper cited agricultural experts as anticipating a promising season, but also lamenting the lack of foreign outlets for exports. In the past, they said, nearly 70% of the apple production went to Egypt and the remaining 30% to other Arab countries. Currently, while exports to Egypt have become unprofitable, exports to other Arab markets were halted because of the war in Syria. Experts also warned that this year’s production will most probably end up in cooling houses while income to farmers will barely cover the cost of cooling. In order to resolve the crisis on the long-term experts proposed that the government seeks new outlets, seek the beneficiation of apple growing through encouraging the setting processing unit that will produce cider vinegar, juices and jams, etc, and finally directly assist farmers by subsidizing the prices of fertilizers and rationalizing their use. (As Safir, June 27, 2016)

 

Whilst the world is still guessing what would be the implications of the Brexit vote on the economies of Europe and the Arab region, economic expert Jassem Ajaqa predicted in an article published  two days ago on “An Nashra” online news that this move will have limited repercussion on Lebanon.  Ajaqa noted that Lebanon’s trade relations with Britain amount to USD 575 million a year (according to the International Trade Centre – 2014) whereas Lebanese exports to Britain amount to USD 38 million per year.  As a result of Brexist, the GBP exchange rate vis-à-vis the US dropped by 10% in less that 7 hours.  This is likely to produce a windfall in trade for Lebanon of some 30 million USD or the equivalent of 6% of import value.  However, and according to Ajaqa, this scenario remains theoretical as it is based on the assumption that prices are not likely to change.  On the other hand, Ajaqa pointed out to the Lebanese dispora in Britain and which numbers some 18000 people (as per the International Migration Organisation) and who sends remittances to Lebanon for the amount of USD 153 million yearly (World Bank, 2015) or the equivalent of 2.14% of total remittances.  These remittances are likely to drop by 8% (i.e. by USD 12 million) due to the drop in the GBP exchange rate and the inflation which will ensue.  Ajaqa also predicted that the Brexit vote will result in increasing domestic unemployment thus leading the British government to exert more pressure on foreign nationals leading to letting go of tens of Lebanese employees. Finally, Ajaqa spoke about the financial institutions and banks that have assets in GBP and other currencies and which may be affected by the Brexit vote and may suffer considerable losses if they do not take the necessary precautions. (Al-Diyar, June 28,2016)

 

Farmers in Akkar have suffered from difficulties in exporting and marketing their traditional produce namely grapes, apples, citrus fruits, almond, pears and apricots.  As a result, they have been trying to transition to exotic produce such as annona, avocado, persimmon, mangoes, passion fruits, kiwi and chestnuts.  According to one of the local farmers, Khaled al Awad, a number of studies and tests are currently being performed on a number of new produce to see what kind of care they require and what packaging should be used to meet the standards of European and Arab markets.  Al Awad noted however, that such a new directions will require official support as individual initiatives, no matter how serious or strong they are, cannot move forward the vital agricultural sector forward which employs or benefits some 40% of the Lebanese population.  To be noted that avocado planting has significantly advanced in Akkar where 70 hectares are already planted with this produce which, according to farmers, provides acceptable revenues compared to the deteriorating planting of grapes.  Kiwi is still in its experimental phase whilst passion fruits planting is tempting farmers due to its acceptable revenues, noting that researches have shown that is the most popular fruit in Arab countries (As-Safir, June 25, 2016)

 

The failure of government to start implementing the Food Safety Law issued on November 24, 2015, and its delay in issuing a decree that endorses the establishment of a Lebanese Committee for Food Safety, has prompted concerned civil society organizations to take action in order to stop further disregard to public health and safety.  In this respect, and upon their instigation, a judicial decision was issued on June 23d which ordered the closing of Matahen Lubnan Al Haditha (Lebanon New Mills) for non-compliance with relevant specifications. Furthermore, and in an attempt to inform citizens, a number of civil society groups, notably, the Legal Agenda, the Consumer Protection in Lebanon and Farah al Ataa associations held a joint press conference yesterday calling on the government and political parties to form the above committee before July 15th. Participants warned that failure to form the said committee shall prompt public protests to stop health related crimes outright. During the said conference, a CD was distributed to the media It included a video of horrific scenes inside LNM mills. Apparently, as the video shows, health ministry inspectors have not visited the premises of Matahen Lubnan before, where birds, rats and rodents feed on wheat and their froth is mixed with the basic food of most of the Lebanese population. 

In the same vein and in response to the series of scandalous events the latest of which was the death from food poinsoning of a boy from Akkar in the North (http://lkdg.org/ar/node/15274), the minister of health, Wael Abu Faoor, organised a press conference yesterday, in which he announced new and tighter measures, These measures will entail the immediate closing of any violating food establishment, which fails to observe the standards of food safety, and replaces the system of warnings or notices, which the minister acknowledged, were ineffective. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, As Safir, Al Akhbar, Al Mustaqbal, June 28, 2016)

 

In its edition of today, As Safir daily newspaper highlighted the catastrophic conditions of potato growers because of law prices and difficulties in exporting to Arab countries. Farmers described the situation as a state of bankruptcy and demise where the ultimate price of one kg of potato in the field barely reaches LBP 400 (below the cost value), at a time when the desired price should be around LBP 600 (which includes a profit margin). The newspaper spoke to agricultural expert Bilal Zoghbi who indicated that the collapse of prices in the first days of a generous harvest season is a sign of an economic disaster, expecting yet a further decline in the coming days, especially with the rise in the market supply of potatoes against limited demand. Zoghbi called for declaring a state of agricultural emergency, and for the removal of obstacles in sea exporting. This, he explained, will revive the sector and improve the situation of farmers, rather than that of maritime transport agencies. Furthermore, he proposed increasing the financial allocation in subsidies to the export of domestic potato, thus preventing an additional drop in the prices. Similarly, potato grower, Najeeb Saadeh, blamed officials for the present crisis, especially that the Ministry of Agriculture has recently approved the unlimited imports of Egyptian potato. (As Safir, June 28 2016)

 

The economic and strategic expert Professor Jassem Ajaqa pointed out that Lebanon will lose as a result of the draft law backing the endorsement of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement within the framework of the Euro-Med Partnership on removing barriers to trade and investment between involved countries. The draft legislation which was approved on June 21 by the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee aims at ensuring the real origin of the exported goods between the member countries in an attempt to control contraventions that affect the export of goods to Europe and the Mediterranean countries. According to the expert, Lebanon will not be able to abide by agreement particularly in view of widespread fraud practices involving merchandise imported from Brazil and entering Lebanon without customs through certain Arab Gulf states. To recall, the Euro-Med Partnership Agreement was initiated back in 1995 as proposed by Spain to create a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area, involving cooperation in numerous sectors, mainly, security, promoting democracy, good governance and human rights. It also calls for the development of preferential provisos for trade exchange between all member countries which include those of the EU, and 16 other countries of the region, including Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Palestine. Concerning Lebanese-European trade relation, Ajaqa cited figures released by the Ministry of Industry which showed  that EU exports to Lebanon in the period from 2000 to 2016 have risen from USD 2 billion to USD 8.5 billion while Lebanese exports to the EU countries have increased from USD 200 million to USD 300 million during the same period. Furthermore, Ajaqa underlined that the Lebanese market embraces some 4 million consumers against some 500 million for the EU. (An Nahar, June 28, 2016)

 

The Labor Minister Sajaan Azzi issued a statement last Saturday outlining the alleged achievements of his ministry, while repeating his well known positions linking foreign workers to the endemic unemployment problem in Lebanon. Azzi began his statement by acknowledging that unemployment has reached 25%, pointing out that the real challenge today is “to counter a move to substantiate the presence of Syrian refugees in the country by finding jobs for Lebanese people and protecting their rights in this regard.” Azzi summarized what he claimed to be achievements of his ministry as follows: First, lowering the number of work permit to foreign workers by 57%, which, according to him, will surely create more job opportunities for Lebanese: secondly, reducing the number foreigners working in international and community organizations from 47% to almost 4.3%; thirdly, issuing work permits in line with local labor market requirements; thirdly, developing a new work culture; fourthly, preparing a draft law regulating work provisions for migrant domestic workers, and in line with decent work guidelines(!), and last but not least, launching a LBP 10 million (some USD 6.6 million) worth projects to generate new employment opportunities for young Lebanese. The minister went on to stress the “need for a sustainable dialogue between the State, employers and workers, with special emphasis on relevant ministerial decisions and decrees that classify jobs restricted for Lebanese and professions open for foreign laborers, particularly Syrian nationals. However, he concluded by admitting in return that" the Lebanese people refuse to work in certain professions, and that they are not staunch job seekers, and would rather leave the country to look out for a job elsewhere” (so much for the new work culture!). (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 26, 2016)

 

The Minister of Agriculture, Akram Shehayeb, issued last week four decisions regarding livestock, dairy products as well as the import of banana. The first resolution No. 490 carried a timeline setting amendment of Article 8 of Resolution No. 1/487 dated 11/6/2014 and related to the export and re-export of live cattle and sheep. Therefore, the modified decision becomes as follows, “With regard to mountain goats and sheep, the decision shall be effective from 7/6/2016 to 7/7/2016”. The second decision No. 1/513 imposes on bananas import a prior import permit issued by the Agriculture Minister and observed by various exporting countries. The third decision No. 1/514 regulates the import of white cheeses, dairies and formula milk products and vegetable oils. It comprises 11 articles regulating the application and registration of the dairy factory, the required import papers, procedures on goods arrival, sanitary conditions, field inspection, weight of products and the restriction of re-packaging, as well as document keeping system. The fourth and last decision No. 1/515 involves regulating the import of dried milk products, dried milk formulas and vegetable oils and comprises 10 articles stipulating same above conditions, in addition to temperature control to be observed during the transport and transfer of the goods. (Al Diyar, June 26, 2016)