Olive growers complain from foreign competition while the government tries to address the problem

In a feature portraying the olive sector in Lebanon, Al Akhbar daily said some farmers are still hopeful of good marketing prospects that will spare them new losses and stockpiling. The newspaper pointed out that despite the local efforts by various cooperatives and agricultural unions to address the situation, yet these bodies are not to reach out to the needs of all farmers in the absence of official support and relevant laws that protect the Lebanese producer. In fact, foreign competition, particularly from neighboring Syria, accentuates the problem according to that newspaper. On this, the chief of the Directorate of Programs at the Ministry of Agriculture, Majida Meshayk, denied any dumping of the domestic market, stating that Lebanese farmers tend to overplay the issue to justify the high cost of their products. However, she acknowledges the fact that the production costs in the olive sector is among the highest in agriculture, noting that Minister Akram Shehayeb has issued a directive on 18/11/2015 requiring any party who wishes to import olive oil to seek the formal authorisation of the ministry.

In the same vain, L’Orient Le Jour newspaper said that the Lebanese olive sector is among the rare economic sectors that generate surplus in production, while criticizing the present trade agreement between Lebanon and other Arab countries which dumped the local markets with competitive products. The newspaper went on to indicate that one gallon of olive oil from Syria is being sold in the market at USD50 against a USD180 and 99 for the corresponding made-in-Lebanon product. Olive trees, it noted, cover nearly 536 thousand dunums of Lebanese territory, i.e.31% of the total cultivated area. (L’Orient Le Jour, Dec 1, Al Akhbar, November 30, 2015)