Ministers of Public Works and Transport, Agriculture, and Economy and Trade in the caretaker government, Ali Hamiyeh, Abbas Al-Haj Hassan, and Amin Salam, inaugurated the agricultural and veterinary quarantine center for food inspection related to import and export operations of agricultural, industrial, and animal products. They also opened an office for the economy service in the South that is responsible for inspecting the safety of goods and food products exported and imported to and from Lebanese territories at Sidon Port. This initiative is based on the vision of the Ministry of Public Works, which emphasizes the importance of diverse strategic and integrated tasks of all Lebanese ports, reaffirming the commercial role and food security of Sidon Port.
At the beginning, the Minister of Public Works noted that "our presence today at Sidon Port, in collaboration and integration with the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy and Trade, aims to accurately characterize the reality of the port, which had a limited role in importing certain services and goods. Legally, it was not permitted to import food and industrial materials of all kinds, as these services were restricted only to the ports of Tripoli and Beirut."
He continued, "As part of the vision we have worked on in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport concerning the necessity of having all pillars of the relevant ministries and public administrations present in the ports, and through the efforts exerted by every individual in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, our maritime ports will operate in a complementary manner rather than in competition with each other and will be within the institutional systems that will allow them to develop themselves through increasing their revenues, including Sidon Port."
Hamiyeh added: "Sidon Port now, in light of the public treasury situation after the approval of a law in 2022 by the House of Representatives, which permitted Sidon Port and public institutions to collect payments in dollars from companies that charge in dollars, will have part of these revenues spent according to what the law allows on this port for it to develop itself. No part of the aforementioned revenues will be spent on the development of any other facility."
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture stated that "the quarantine center in Sidon serves to facilitate the reception of shipments directly related to food security and its sustainability, similar to what is done at the ports of Beirut and Tripoli, by ensuring constant and diligent monitoring and work."
The Minister of Economy confirmed that "Minister Hamiyeh’s role in this matter is at the forefront due to his full commitment and determination to activate the roles of all vital facilities in Lebanon, especially the maritime ones." He emphasized that "the importance of the Lebanese coast lies in its good utilization and investment, especially what we address today at Sidon Port. We are creating a facility in this city, which is situated in the capital of the South and extends to all of Lebanon."
He announced that the Ministry of Economy and Trade has assigned a number of employees who will begin their work immediately to take samples and necessary tests for all shipments arriving at the port.
