Algeria spends $32 million per month to import fruit

Chief of the national committee of fruit and vegetables wholesale market representatives Mohamed Medjber described a report released by the trade ministry as « shocking. »

The report said $30 million of vegetables and more than $32 million of fresh fruit was imported in January 2016.

“Where are the imported vegetables? Personally, I did not see them. Actually, the State tried to import onions from Spain last year but we faced it,” Medjber told Echorouk.

Speaking about imported fruit bill, he said some importers showed fears over the government’s decision to stop importing fruit. “They brought ships full of bananas and apples. They stored it and now they sell it at high prices.”

Garlic imports reached almost $3 million in a month.

“Algerian garlic is available and of excellent quality. We sold it in January at 75 DZ for a kilogram. So, why does Algeria import Chinese garlic which looks like plastic?” said Medjber.