Government Holds Extraordinary Meeting: Tax Decree Suspended

The Council of Ministers convened an extraordinary session under the chairmanship of Nawaf Salam. Attendees included Ministers: Finance Yassine Jaber, Culture Ghassan Salame, Defense Michel Mansi, Energy and Water Joe Sadi, Tourism Laura Khazen, Social Affairs Hanin Saeed, Economy and Trade Amer Bassat, Displacement and Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, Communications Charles Al-Hajj, Education and Higher Learning Rima Karami, Administrative Development Fadi Makki, Labor Mohamed Haidar, Public Works and Transport Fayez Rasamni, Agriculture Nizar Hani, Information Paul Marcos, and Environment Tamara Zain. Also present was the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makiya.

Following the session, the Minister of Information released the following official information:

The Council of Ministers today held an urgent session with a single agenda item concerning the decree that imposed duties on certain goods. The Council resolved as follows:
Having reaffirmed the necessity to implement Law No. 38 dated 5-1-2026, which is a reformative step to establish sound organizational and financial governance principles for waste management, based on the "polluter pays" principle, and considering the need for the state, not local authorities, to cover the costs of waste treatment, the schedule related to the customs duty on imported products was amended, resulting in Decree No. 3214 dated 15-6-2026.
In light of the current living conditions, economic circumstances, and the repercussions of the war, and following deliberation, the Council of Ministers decided to suspend the implementation of Decree No. 3214 dated 15-6-2026, pending a re-examination of the tariff schedule attached to it.