List of Items And Goods Barred From Import To Be Issued Early January 2018

The Head of Department at the Ministry of Trade, Mr. Lyès Feroukhi, has announced that the list of outstanding items and goods barred from import will be released at the beginning of next month, early January 2018.

Being a guest of a national radio program on Thursday morning, Mr Feroukhi  said that the Executive Decree, which sets the list of 851 relevant items (customs items), will be signed next week in line with the Government’s recent decision to temporarily suspend the import of various materials in a bid to protect and give a fresh impulse to the national economy.

The same official pointed out that the inclusion of these items into the list of those prohibited from import came on the basis of data and study of the national market, as well as the need for the economy to further adjust the balance of payments and trade, stressing that this list brought the state treasury around $ 1.5 billion dollars in spin-offs. 

“Although this accrued financial amount is rather small, it is important all the same,” he asserted.

He also affirmed that the Government estimated in the first place that the country’s imports would not exceed $ 40 billion dollars in 2017. 

Unfortunately, he added, we have exceeded that figure which could reach $ 45 billion dollars by the end of this year.

“We have not as yet achieved the desired goal, but we are close to it, as we have reduced the value of imports by more than two billion dollars compared to 2016, and this is in itself positive,” he explained.

Mr. Feroukhi further indicated that some items were included in the list of non-importation, although they were not previously included in the banned import roster, for fear that some importers may import them after they were prevented from importing the materials they used to bring from overseas formerly.

He also denied that the authorities’ first objective was not to ward off the import of all materials; stressing that these materials barred from import have now reliable alternatives on the national market.