The Qatar Public Health Ministry has announced a ban on the imports of fresh mint, parsley, coriander, thyme, purslane (baqleh), and mloukhieh from Lebanon, after high levels of pesticides and E.coli were found in analyzed samples.
It is not the first time countries of the Arab Gulf decide to restrict the import of food from Lebanon. Back in April, Saudi Arabia (KSA) issued an “indefinite” ban on the imports of fruits and vegetables from Lebanon, claiming that it was a way for drug smugglers to bring drugs into the country.
The KSA decision to ban the vegetables and fruits was hard for the Lebanese farmers, who have already been suffering from the dramatic devaluation of the local currency, as farming inputs are bought at the US dollar rate.
Source: the961.com