Exempt Materials from Customs Dollar… But!

The economic expert Anis Abu Diab clarified that "the validity of the customs dollar will start today as scheduled." This decision "will have an impact on the prices of all imported goods subject to customs duties, increasing between 5% and 35%, in addition to the value-added tax that was previously paid according to the official dollar rate and will now be paid according to the Sayrafa platform rate." In an interview with the electronic newspaper "Al-Anbaa," he revealed that "there are several lists of food items exempt from the customs dollar and from the value-added tax, but the problem lies with the traders and their greed, who will exploit the opportunity of raising the customs dollar and increasing the value-added tax at the Sayrafa rate to raise prices on all goods, especially in light of the government's and relevant ministries' failure to provide lists of exempt goods." Abu Diab stated: "The relevant ministries should have issued actual lists of all goods exempt from taxes and customs duties so that citizens would know them and not fall victim to fraud." He pointed out that "all traders since January, with the onset of discussions about the customs dollar, have resorted to stockpiling their materials and goods until they can take advantage of the situation and raise prices." He emphasized that "this matter necessitates serious monitoring by the concerned authorities for proper implementation, and it should have been the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy to inventory what is available in warehouses and imports before today’s date and to impose a new customs duty on it or obligate traders to sell it at a customs dollar exchange rate of 1,500 liras. Unfortunately, the absence of institutions leads us to collapse."