Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri said in an interview published Thursday that moves to slash import duties in a bid to revive a flagging economy were a revolution.
"It is a customs revolution which is taking place for the first time in Lebanon," Hariri told the London-published Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat.
He predicted that they would reverse the decline of the economy, create jobs, turn Lebanon into a trade center for the Arab world and attract foreign investment.
"These measures are also an important step towards creating an Arab common market," he added.
Hariri, who has been in office a month, told AFP on November 11 that he wanted to prepare the ground for partnership accords with the European Union and ultimately membership of the World Trade Organization.
Both goals require a reduction of import duties, and from Friday, taxes on most imports will now range from zero to 70 percent instead of six to 105 percent.
No duties will be placed on raw materials for industry and on information technology products, while consumer goods will see a sharp drop, with taxes on beauty products and cosmetics falling from 55 percent to 15 percent.
The government will continue to protect local industry, although not with the same tariff barriers as in the past.
On goods not destined for industry rates will drop to five percent, except on tobacco, cement, and private cars, which provide the government its main source of revenues for the budget.
Around half of the state's revenues were drawn from customs duties, with income tax and corporate taxes notoriously low – BEIRUT (AFP)
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