AMMAN -- Testing fees imposed by the several government agencies that monitor the quality of food items add as much as 10 per cent to consumer food prices, according to Foodstuff Traders Association President Samer Jawabreh.
Food importers pay fees to the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA), Customs Department, Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology (JISM), agriculture ministry and Greater Amman Municipality, he said, adding that consumers are the "victims" of these testing requirements.
Jawabreh noted that importers calculate all these fees in addition to General Sales Tax and shipment costs when they price food items.
The JFDA charges between JD60 and JD70 for testing each sample of a food product, while the JISM charges between JD140 and JD200.
Consumers could save between 5 and 10 per cent if there were a single control and monitoring agency for food imports, Jawabreh told The Jordan Times recently.
He also suggested cutting the 16 per cent sales tax imposed on some food items, saying that reducing costs to consumers should be a government priority.
"It is not acceptable to impose the same sales tax rate on essential commodities and luxury products such as electronics," he complained, adding that the list of 260 items that were exempt from sales tax or subjected to a lower tax rate last year excluded many basic products such as fresh meat and poultry.
Neither the Ministry of Industry and Trade nor the Consumer Protection Society could be reached to corroborate or respond to Jawabreh's statements, despite multiple attempts by The Jordan Times.
© Jordan Times 2012
