Signing the Minutes of the Meeting of the Syrian-Lebanese Agricultural Follow-up Committee

Damascus, (ST)- The minutes of the Syrian-Lebanese Agricultural Follow-up Committee meeting were signed at the Ministry of Agriculture in Damascus on Tuesday.

The minutes, signed by the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Ahmed Al-Qadri, and Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, Hassan Al-Laqis, included “the efforts of the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture with the relevant authorities to re-activate the agreements signed during 2010 and to commission the joint committees between the two countries to study memorandums of understanding or executive programs in the areas of agricultural cooperation and submit it to the Ministers of Agriculture in both countries to be signed and put into implementation.”

The two sides agreed to form a joint technical committee in the fields of plant protection, scientific research and plant production, and submit a report to the ministers of agriculture to develop facilitation steps in this area during one month.

The two sides called, in the minutes, to take the necessary action to send a certificate of re-export of agricultural products imported to Syria through Lebanese territory.

 The minutes provided for setting up a joint technical committee to discuss the exchange of Lebanese and animal agricultural products between the two countries throughout the year in the periods where local production is not available in the markets of both countries.

The minutes also included allowing the importation of potatoes from Lebanon to Syria from 10 November to 31 January of each year and following up the procedures for amending the resolution concerning the importation of horses from Syria to Lebanon in order to preserve the rights, breed and descent of Syrian horses registered in the international organization, in addition to the exchange of lists of prohibited and permitted pesticides in both countries.

The two sides agreed to entrust the Joint Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture, which was previously formed, to discuss a new draft agreement for cooperation in the field of fisheries, aquaculture and marine fisheries proposed by the Syrian side, as well as the consolidation of the preventive immunization program against foot and mouth disease for sheep and cows annually in the border areas.

The minutes included the follow-up to provide the Syrian side with the decisions issued by the Lebanese side regarding quarantine immediately after its issuance and the joint cooperation between the public and private sectors in both countries in the production of bee queens and the continuation of the Syrian side to supply the Lebanese side with trees and seeds.

The two sides agreed to continue the work of the memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of agricultural scientific research signed in 2009, in addition to activating the work of joint technical agricultural committees and completing their formation by the Lebanese side.

The two sides called for the exchange of experiences, training visits and to inform each other before issuing a ban on the importation of any agricultural product in order to prevent losses to exporters.

The minutes was signed by the president of the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council, Nasri al-Khouri.

Syrian-Lebanese Talks to Develop Agricultural and Economic Relations

The Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Engineer Ahmed Qadri discussed earlier with his Lebanese counterpart Hassan al- Laqis ways to develop agricultural relations between the two countries.

Mr. Al-Qadri affirmed the necessity of finding a common vision for developing cooperation in all agricultural fields between the two countries. He pointed out that the close cooperation between the two ministries in the field of agricultural scientific research constitutes one of the components of agricultural production in Syria and Lebanon.

Al-Qadri pointed to the existence of joint agreements between the two countries in the field of agriculture. He expressed his readiness to provide Lebanon with various types of plantations and benefit from its expertise in Syrian agricultural fields.

For his part, Mr. Al-Laqis said that the talks focused on ways to develop joint agricultural relations in the interest of farmers in both countries and serve the import and export process through the Syrian ports and land crossings.

In the same context, Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Dr. Mohammed Samer Al-Khalil discussed with the Lebanese Minister of Agriculture ways of developing economic and agricultural relations between the two countries.

The meeting, which was held at the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, dealt with a number of issues that are in the interest of the two countries and peoples, especially on the subject of exchanging agricultural products in accordance with the agricultural calendar.

In a statement after the meeting, Mr. Al-Khalil stressed the need to continue and strengthen the joint cooperation agreements that were suspended due to the terrorist war that was launched on Syria and to work on developing them. He called for a common vision between the two countries to develop cooperation in all fields to support the economic development process.

Sh. Kh.