Iraq: Ban on imported vegetables.
Description
Iraq is reported to have placed a temporary ban on vegetable imports from countries including Turkey, Iran and Syria. “The ban began on May 1,” Subhi al-Jumaily, a senior deputy agriculture minister said in one newspaper interview. The minister stated that the ban would be in effect whenever the supply from domestic sources is sufficient. "We don't want to shut off imports completely but want to arrange them through official agreements for all different food items," he said.
At present, according to one local academic, Iraq imports between 90 and 94 percent of its food and between 60 and 70 percent of its vegetables. For the year to date, imports of vegetables are reported to have totalled in value US$5.5 billion from Turkey, US$3.5 billion from Iran, US$3 billion from Syria. Other importers include Jordan and China.
On 8 June 2009 a senior official at the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculuture was reported to have said the ban was successful, in part because the prices of vegetables was stable.
These developments appear not to have gone unnoticed in trading partners. The Jordanian Minister of Agriculture sought special permits from his Iraqi counterpart for Jordan's produce to be exported to Iraqi. Mr. Masri, the Jordanian Minister, was reported to have said ""The Iraqi side agreed to allow Jordanian fruit exports into Iraq provided that they are loaded on the border onto Iraqi trucks under limited permits."
Any Evidence-Based Deliberation:
| Question | Result |
|---|---|
| Is there anything in the public record to suggest that evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed measure was considered during official deliberations? | No |
| Is there any evidence that alternatives to the proposed measure were considered? | No |
| Is there anything in the public record that suggests that empirical evidence informed the comparison across the alternatives available to government? | Don't Know |
| Was such evidence identified? | No |
| Is such evidence publicly available? | No |
| Did the official decision-maker in question provide an explanation as to why a chosen measure was favoured over alternatives? | No |
| Is there any evidence to suggest that potentially affected trading partners were consulted before the measures were taken? | No |
| Is there any evidence that safeguards have been put in place to ensure that implementation of the initiative is transparent and non-discriminatory? | No |
| Did the government state its intention to review the measure within one year of implementation? | Yes |
Date Discovered: 12/06/2009
Implemented: Yes
Date of inception: 1 May 2009
GTA Evaluation: Red
Source:
No confirmation on paper from official sources was found. Instead numerous news articles were found and checked for consistency. The most helpful articles can be found at the following URLs:
http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=9443
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090608101216/Ministry%20says%20...
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?storyid=1093251262
Government Response:
- 683 reads
