Dubai: Prices of certain fruits and vegetable may go up if the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment’s (MOCCAE) proposed ban on imports comes into effect next month.
On Monday, the ministry issued an advisory that it will ban imports of certain vegetables and fruits from Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen due to excess levels of pesticide residues found in some products from these countries.
According to the ministry, the ban will come into effect from May 15, 2017 on the imports of all varieties of pepper from Egypt as well as pepper, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, squash, beans and eggplant from Jordan.
Imports of apples from Lebanon and melons, carrots and watercress from Oman and all types of fruit from Yemen are also banned.
Ahmad, who has been selling vegetables for 23 years, added that the UAE’s dependence on fruits and vegetable imports increases particularly during summer as the local produce dwindle in extreme heat.
Another vendor Waliur Rahman added that while the vendors will find alternative sources and may choose to sell other varieties of fruits and vegetables, consumers will suffer.
“Right now I sell vegetables, much of which come from Jordan, Oman and Egypt, if the ban comes into effect I will choose something else to sell. But what will consumers do, they will have to buy these vegetables if they must, imported from other countries and the cost will definitely go up if the supply is lesser than the demand,” said Rahman, a retail vendor at Al Aweer Market.
The ban will stay until the banned countries and products comply with the maximum allowed level of pesticides, even as the UAE has requested these countries to provide a certificate of analysis of pesticide residues for all other vegetables and fruits, and unsatisfactory results may lead to bans covering more products.