A senior Jordanian agricultural official has said that Saudi Arabia is still undecided about lifting its ban on imports of Jordanian vegetables.
After more than two months of continued consultations with Jordanian authorities, the Saudi technical team recently concluded its visit to Jordan with a decision that would apparently allow imports of the vegetables, the Jordan Times reported.
However, the report added that no practical steps were taken afterwards.
“The team, which concluded its visit in late August after inspecting production sites and water resources used in irrigation, left after being assured that Jordanian vegetables are 100 percent safe for human consumption,” a top official told the Amman-based paper.
“However, Jordan has not received a response yet on whether there will be a resumption of Jordanian vegetable exports to the Saudi market,” acting general director at the Jordanian Agricultural Marketing Organization (AMO) Mahmoud Hiyari said.
While Jordanian fruit is exported to Saudi Arabia year-round without hindrance, Saudi Arabia has maintained a total ban on Jordanian vegetables since the early 1990s due to concerns about treated wastewater used in irrigation, namely in the Jordan Valley, the report added – Albawaba.com
