Lebanon's border row with Syria over truck inspections is costing Lebanese farmers $300,000 per day, the Lebanese Syndicate of Agriculture has claimed.
According to a report in Beirut's The Daily Star, the Syndicate called on Syria to speed up inspections of trucks carrying produce estimated at $1 million of products out of Lebanon, noting that "the farmers' only land route for exporting is via Syria."
Lebanon exports all of its agricultural products through Syria to other Arab countries, especially to the Gulf Region. Agricultural exports make up 12 per cent of Lebanon's GDP.
Merchants claim that the Lebanese trucks are suspended for four to five days at the Syrian checkpoint, “whereas Syrian trucks crossing into Lebanon are cleared in less than an hour,” the report says.
It adds that truck drivers throw away large quantities of fruits and vegetables after days at the checkpoint, while farmers cannot salvage products from the trucks and are unable to ensure the sanitation of rotting goods, according to the report in The Daily Star.
