The Ministry of Agriculture reveals a brutal war targeting the Iraqi economy and farmers - urgent

In light of the financial and health crisis afflicting the country, the Ministry of Agriculture is waging a war to prevent the opening of imports in front of agricultural products in which the country has reached the stage of self-sufficiency, especially table eggs, and while MPs and farmers stress the need to protect the Iraqi farmer with all his crops, agriculture confirmed that it is not subject to any pressure It opens doors of corruption.

In previous years, local industries and agriculture witnessed a significant decline, as thousands of factories and factories closed their doors after failing to renew and train their cadres, and their capabilities were weakened to compete with imported goods that flooded the Iraqi market, in addition to the damage to agricultural crops and their inability to compete with the importer, successive governments did not take measures To neutralize imports or impose taxes on their quantities entering the country, to keep local industry and agriculture dormant.

Smuggling

While a member of the Agriculture Committee in Parliament, Representative Jamal Fakher, confirms that there are internal and external pressures to maintain the phenomenon of smuggling, he stressed the need to support the national product and not to overlook any attempts to manipulate prices by producers.

Fakher said, in an interview with (Baghdad Today), "The House of Representatives voted a few months ago to support the local product in an effort to develop agricultural, industrial and animal production and revive important sectors that attract 60% of the country's workforce," indicating that "the problem still exists." "In the presence of uncontrolled outlets in the Kurdistan region, where they form a window for the entry of smuggled materials, whether they are agricultural, animal or even industrial crops."

He added, "The Iraqi farmer is exposed to a great loss due to flooding the markets with imported crops in addition to the rest of the other sectors, including poultry." And putting the state's hand on uncontrolled outlets in Kurdistan. 

A member of the Agriculture Committee in the House of Representatives pointed out that smuggling remains aimed at obtaining hard currency, pointing out that Iraq is going through a severe financial crisis due to its dependence on oil as a main resource for the budget, and this is a big mistake that must pay attention to its implications and push towards reviving agriculture and the rest of the other sectors In order to reach the stage of self-sufficiency, which will support the national economy and provide great job opportunities for the unemployed in all governorates.

The wave of popular protests that Iraq has witnessed since the beginning of last October has accompanied continuous campaigns to support the local product, and to encourage the owners of factories that have disrupted and left armies of the unemployed during the past years, to restart them again, in addition to the campaigns to boycott imported agricultural products that are flooding the Iraqi market.

And Jamal Fakher added, "Supporting the national product does not mean ignoring any attempts to manipulate prices by producers, as is happening now in the file of table eggs," stressing the need for "the Ministry of Agriculture to have a decisive position to support consumers," stressing at the same time that " The Agricultural Committee called on the ministry and any government agency that is under any pressure to remain silent about smuggling or any other negative situation to inform it in order to support it in any situation and decisions to support national production.

Governmental call to poultry producers

The eggs of the substance, in the middle of last year, had turned into a burning conversation among Iraqi activists on social media, in conjunction with a "regional conflict" that the country’s market thrived, which was flooded with shipments of Iranian, Turkish, Ukrainian and other eggs, until packages of eggs were lined up in the streets at prices. Very low, reaching up to two thousand dinars, in return for heavy losses of the local product, which the Ministry of Agriculture faced with severe measures.

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Muhammad Karim Al-Khafaji, issued an invitation to poultry producers in the country, while he confirmed that his ministry had closed the door to import and would not be subject to pressure, he said.

In a televised interview that I watched (Baghdad Today), Muhammad Al-Khafaji said, in response to a question about the fact that there are mafias that control prices and pressure to open imports, that there is a war going on and not just pressure, indicating that there are beneficiaries and merchants targeting the local industry, It is shared by politicians, merchants and many influential people.

Al-Khafaji added, "When the ministry closed the door to corruption in import operations, these groups began to lose and look for other outlets to pressure, and we will not succumb to it."

The Minister of Agriculture called on poultry producers in the country to "cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture in determining the price of the egg layer and its distribution, in addition to an agreement with the governors to establish marketing centers and distribute products to the popular markets."

The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, had stressed earlier, on combating smuggling, counterfeiting and waste of public money at the border outlets and closing the informal ones because of the negatives they pose to the reality of the national economy and the protection of the local product.

In a meeting with the head of the Border Ports Authority, Omar Al-Waeli, on Sunday (November 8, 2020), Al-Kazemi stressed the importance of closing the informal crossings because of the negatives they pose on the reality of the national economy and the protection of the local product, stressing the need to work on establishing laboratories. Examiner for imported goods and subjecting them to the determinants of the work of the Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control.

https://iraqakhbar.com/2747911