Exports resume at Syria-Jordan Nassib crossing
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, trade movement from the Syrian side of the Syria-Jordan Nassib crossing resumed, after having ceased for several days.
Fayez Qasouma, vice-chair of the Export Committee of the Syrian Chambers of Commerce, told the Russian Sputnik agency that “exports at the border returned to normal after they stopped from Thursday until Tuesday.”
Qasouma added that goods exported today from Nassib crossing finally exited that Jordanian Jaber crossing after waiting several days.
He pointed out that last Friday, 76 trucks left the crossing towards the Gulf states, and that 3,000 tons of produce are exported daily.
60% of Syrian exports are fruits and vegetables, 30% of which go to the Gulf countries, with the remaining percentages going to Egypt and Jordan.
Qasouma indicated that the abolition of the “back to back” system, in which contents of trucks coming from Syria are unloaded onto Jordanian trucks (preventing the Syrian driver from entering Jordan), has “caused great difficulty in the passage of goods to their destinations in the Gulf states and Egypt.”
A source at Nassib crossing revealed that the crossing’s revenues for the past two months amounted to 17 billion Syrian pounds (approximately 5.3 million USD).
The source, quoted by the local al-Watan newspaper, pointed out that most of the revenues came from goods seized due to violations in the imported goods’ customs data, and that most of these violations were related to goods such as spare car parts.
Trucks loaded with the furniture of Syrian expatriates, many of which have been stuck at the crossing for two months, were often used to smuggle goods and materials into the country and evade customs duties, the source stated, adding that 80 trucks with furniture were prevented from entering the crossing.
Previously, the Syrian government issued a decision to end the exemption of Syrians living abroad from customs duties when shipping personal effects and household items home.