Olive oil support

State to buy 20,000 tanks from North, 30,000 from other governorates combined

The Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) issued a joint memo on the procedure that will be followed in purchasing 50,000 olive oil tanks from farmers across the country. The net weight of each olive oil tank is 15 kilograms.

The Cabinet agreed last December to raise the budget allocated to the army for the purchasing of olive oil to $2.3 million (up from $1.3 million). The measure is a subsidy to the olive oil sector following mounting complaints from farmers about hardships facing the olive oil market.

The procedure calls on famers to deliver their oil produce to the agriculture centers or cooperatives affiliated with the MoA (except those located in Beirut), or to the service centers affiliated with the MoSA.

The memo limited the olive oil amount that could be purchased from each farmer. It stated that for farmers who submit more than six tanks, a percentage of the produce would be accepted relative to the amount presented. For farmers who submit less than six tanks, the whole amount would be taken in.

The memo stipulated that olive oil must be tested before being purchased.

According to the memo, the 50,000 oil tanks which the government intends to buy will be distributed among the different governorates as such: 2,500 tanks from the Bekaa, 8,000 tanks from the South, 12,000 tanks from Nabatieh, 7,500 tanks from Mount Lebanon, and 20,000 tanks from the North