Agriculture minister meets UAE counterpart

AMMAN — Agriculture Minister Khaled Hneifat on Thursday met with the UAE’s minister of climate change and environment, Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, to discuss issues related to Jordan’s agriculture exports, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The two discussed the increased measures taken by the Jordanian government to ensure the safety of the Kingdom’s agricultural products, Petra said.

The measures came after the UAE decided to ban the import of seven types of vegetables from Jordan. 

Coming into effect on May 15,  the banned vegetables include all types of zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, cabbage, green beans, cauliflower and lettuce.

The UAE’s decision also stipulated that imports of any fruit and vegetables should be coupled with certificates from the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture, to indicate that the produce was free from pesticide remnants.

Hneifat pointed out that the ministry has started a three-month awareness raising campaign  targetting farmers. 

He also announced that the central markets of Amman and Irbid, as well as packaging centres, will be equipped with pesticide residue detectors. 

Hneifat said that the ministry had signed an agreement with the Royal Scientific Society to benefit from the services of its laboratories, as well as using a private laboratory, which will conduct 1,000 checks per day. 

He also noted that the Ministry of Agriculture has prohibited the use of certain pesticides.

Hneifat and Zeyoudi also discussed the possibility of exporting Jordanian sheep to the UAE, especially in light of the border closures with Syria and Iraq.