Algiers – Algeria decided to remove 100-plus importable items – including beef – from a provisional safeguard duty list, Algérie Presse Service (APS) reported on Tuesday (23).
The move came as a result of a ministerial change to a January 26 ruling that set forth a list of 1,095 items under import duties in the 30%-200% range. The new list comprises 992 products, with charges ranging from 30% to 120%.
The duty list replaced a 2018 rule which included a provisional ban on imports of 851 products in 45 different categories.
Goods removed from the duty list include fresh and refrigerated beef, peanuts, almonds, raisins, butter and medicinal diet foods.
APS said the Ministry of Trade announced measures designed to encourage the building of stockpiles for Ramadan, including laxer rules on imports of food items, including meats.
Ramadan is the month of the Muslim calendar during which followers fast from sunup to sundown and then feast at night – hence the demand for foodstuffs. This year, Ramadan will last from May 5 to June 4.
According to the Ministry, Ramadan is a month marked by “conjunctural and recurrent consumption habits by citizens across the country, as well as speculative practices by merchants.” In other words, the measures in place are intended to ensure supplies are in place, thereby preventing prices from soaring.
“The import of food items such as meats and bananas will be quota-free, and the authorizations issued concern solely the meeting of sanitary and phytosanitary rules,” the Ministry said.
Barriers
Algeria has been restricting imports over the last few years in a drive to even out its balance of payments. Oil and gas exports are the country’s primary source of revenue. As their prices plummeted, the country’s current account deficit began to pile up.
Reasons for the tax barriers also include encouraging domestic production and the development of fledgling industries.
Algeria is not in the World Trade Organization (WTO), therefore isn’t required to comply with the latter’s tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Despite the barriers, Brazil’s exports to Algeria are going strong, having fetched USD 255 million during Q1, up 6.8% year-on-year, as per Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce numbers.
Q1 2018, however, had seen said exports slide by 26.4% from USD 324.6 million in Q1 2017. This had come precisely while the provisional ban on several goods was in place.
Algeria was once the second biggest Arab buyer of Brazilian beef, trailing only Egypt. Currently, it also trails the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Libya, and sales from Brazil to Algeria are on their way down.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
