Qatar has ordered shops to remove goods originating from a group of Saudi Arabian-led countries which a year ago imposed a wide-ranging boycott on the emirate, Doha officials said Saturday. A directive from the economy ministry ordered shops to immediately strip shelves of products from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

Inspectors will visit stores to ensure they comply with the order, the ministry said.

The government will also try and stop products such as Saudi dairy goods from entering Qatar via a third country.

Qatar’s Government Communications Office (GCO) said it was trying to “protect the safety of consumers”.

“Products originating from blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the GCC customs territory, has to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures,” the GCO said in a statement.

“Qatar conducts its trade policy in accordance with all of its multilateral and bilateral agreements.”

The order comes just days before the anniversary of a bitter Gulf crisis.

Since June 5 last year, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have cut all relations with Qatar, accusing it of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran.

The countries subsequently imposed a trade and diplomatic boycott on Qatar, which rejects the charges and says the countries are seeking regime change in Doha.

The row has forced isolated Qatar, which previously relied on its Gulf neighbours, to look elsewhere for food imports, including Turkey, Morocco and Iran.

Many such imports enter the country via ports such as Kuwait and Oman.

It is through these ports, and also via individuals, that goods from the boycotting countries manage to get in to Qatar, said a source with knowledge of the situation.

“Businessmen from the blockading countries are trying to go around the blockade… by using third parties,” said the source. </s> DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar said it was banning products originating from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, almost a year after those states imposed an embargo on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

FILE PHOTO: A woman shops in a supermarket in Doha, Qatar June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

“Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures,” a government statement said late on Saturday.

“To protect the safety of consumers in the State of Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted.”

The national Al Watan newspaper quoted a circular from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce telling traders and shops to stop dealing in products imported from the four countries. It said inspectors would monitor compliance with the policy.

The four states cut diplomatic and transport ties last June. Qatar, which had many of its imports trans-shipped from the UAE and received the bulk of its fresh food across the Saudi border, denied the accusations against it.

Imports into Qatar plunged about 40 percent from a year earlier in the initial weeks of the boycott, but they have since mostly returned to normal as Doha has found new sources of products in countries such as Turkey, and developed new shipping routes through places such as Oman. Qatar has also launched a drive to produce more things locally, including foods.

Since last June, some foods and other products from the embargo states have continued to find their way into Qatar through third countries.

A spokesman for Qatar’s government declined to give details but said any imports coming to the country must go through proper import inspections.

He was not immediately able to give the value of the goods affected by the new measures, and whether the ban would cover all products trans-shipped through the embargo states in addition to goods produced there.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper on Sunday he saw no resolution to the diplomatic row in sight. </s> DUBAI Qatar said it was banning products from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, almost a year after the four states imposed an embargo on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

Qatar, which had many of its imports trans-shipped from the UAE and received the bulk of its fresh food across the Saudi border, denied the accusation.

On the product ban, a government statement said on Saturday: "Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures.

"To protect the safety of consumers in the state of Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted."

The national Al Watan newspaper quoted a circular from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce telling traders and shops to stop dealing in products from the four countries. It said inspectors would monitor compliance with the policy.

The four states cut diplomatic and transport ties last June.

A spokesman for Qatar's government did not respond to e-mailed questions on the volume of goods that would be affected by the new ban.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper he saw no resolution to the diplomatic row in sight. </s> QATAR said it was banning products originating from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, almost a year after those states imposed an embargo on Doha, accusing it of supporting terrorism.

"Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the Gulf Cooperation Council Customs Territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures," a government statement said late on Saturday.

"To protect the safety of consumers in the State of Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted."

The national Al Watan newspaper quoted a circular from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce telling traders and shops to stop dealing in products imported from the four countries. It said inspectors would monitor compliance with the policy.

The four states cut diplomatic and transport ties last June. Qatar, which had many of its imports transshipped from the UAE and received the bulk of its fresh food across the Saudi border, denied the accusations against it.

Imports into Qatar plunged about 40 per cent from a year earlier in the initial weeks of the boycott, but they have since mostly returned to normal as Doha has found new sources of products in countries such as Turkey, and developed new shipping routes through places such as Oman. Qatar has also launched a drive to produce more things locally, including foods.

Since last June, some foods and other products from the embargo states have continued to find their way into Qatar through third countries.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told Alsharq Alawsat newspaper on Sunday he saw no resolution to the diplomatic row in sight. REUTERS </s> Russia on Friday further relaxed trade sanctions placed on Turkey in the aftermath of the downing of a Russian fighter jet in 2015. In a statement, the government said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had signed a decree lifting the ban on some agricultural produce and Turkish companies involved in construction, engineering and tourism.

The development is the latest in the lifting of sanctions imposed after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane that had violated Turkish airspace from Syria in November 2015.

Friday's resolution removed frozen chicken and other poultry by-products as well as cucumbers, gherkins and fresh fruits from the list of blocked products, the government said. It also lifted the ban on Turkish construction, design, engineering and tourism-related companies. The decree did not mention restrictions on tomato imports from Turkey.

During a May 3 visit to Russia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Vladimir Putin agreed to remove sanctions with the exception of tomatoes.

During the 25th-anniversary summit for the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in Istanbul on May 22, Turkey and Russia signed a joint declaration to life trade restrictions between the two countries with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, his Russian counterpart Medvedev, Turkey's deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek and his Russian counterpart Arkady Dvorkovich who attended the ceremony.

After November 2015, Moscow took several measures against Ankara, including the banning of imported Turkish agricultural products and the ending of visa-free travel for Turks. Relations were frozen for months between the countries but relaxed in the summer of 2016 when Putin and Erdoğan began to bury the hatchet.

Eight banned items

The ban on eight products including zucchini, pumpkin, romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, eggplant, pepper, pomegranate and tomato, which has become the symbol of sanctions between the two countries, still continues. Ministerial-level talks will be held between the two countries in order to lift the ban on seven items except for tomatoes.

'Conditional' green light from Russia for tomato imports

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said only two restrictions, visa-free travel for Turkish citizens and tomatoes, remained for Turkey, reported Russian state news agency TASS on Friday.

"We will solve these issues within the framework of consultations with our Turkish counterparts on a reciprocal basis," Dvorkovich was quoted as saying by TASS. He said consultations on the seasonal admission of Turkish tomatoes to the Russian market would continue during the summer. Dvorkovich, answering journalists' questions at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), said that tomatoes might be imported from Turkey in low volumes for use in making products such as sauces and fruit juices. Noting that Turkish tomatoes with affordable prices can be used for processing, Dvorkovich said, "However, importing tomatoes in high volumes is not on our agenda."

"I think they will be going on through the summer. We can reach an agreement, but I would not expect any very high volumes of supplies; they will be rather limited," he told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The Russian government put into effect the decision to remove all restrictions on Turkish food products, excluding tomatoes today.

Tomato ban to last at least 3 years

Russia's Agriculture Minister Aleksandr Tkachev, who took the toughest stance regarding the sanctions against Turkey and favored the continuation of the ban, said that the restrictions on Turkish tomatoes would last for at least three years. "The next three years will be decisive for the development of the tomato production sector in Russia. We have already reduced imports by almost twice, and we produce 800,000 tons of tomatoes in our country," Tkachev told Sputnik in an interview. "We have to increase our production by about 500,000 tons more. This requires three to five years depending on the market. For this reason, the return of Turkish tomatoes to our market is not in question in the near future." </s> Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an order lifting most sanctions on agricultural imports from Turkey today.

Medvedev lifted the ban on berries, fruit, meat and poultry imports. Turkish tomatoes will remain on the embargo list.

The order followed the presidential decree lifting most employment restrictions for Turkish citizens, as well as certain restrictions on operations of Turkish companies.

Russia and Turkey agreed on lifting remaining sanctions in late May when Russian Deputy PM Arkadi Dvorkovich met Turkish Deputy PM Mehmet Simsek

Russia imposed sanctions on Turkey after it shot down a Russian military jet operating in Syria in March 2015. Two Russian soldiers died as a result of the incident. </s> Qatar on Saturday asked its shops to remove goods from four countries that severed diplomatic relations with them last June, AFP reported. Inspectors will visit stores to ensure compliance with the order, the economy ministry said.

The Government Communications Office said it was trying to “protect the safety of consumers” by banning products from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – the first four countries to cut ties with Qatar on June 5, 2017. They had accused Doha of financing terrorist groups, charges that Qatar denies. Some other Arab nations joined in the boycott soon after.

The standoff had forced Qatar to shift import routes to Kuwait and Oman, and buy goods from Iran and Turkey, according to Bloomberg.

The government’s directive on Saturday is meant to “find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted” by the blockade, a statement said. The government will try and stop products such as Saudi dairy goods from entering Qatar through a third country. </s> China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) chose to recall all the frozen and chilled meat and poultry imported from the 21 Brazilian plants that are under investigation for a massive meat adulteration scheme, the food safety authority said Friday.

Brazilian President Michel Temer said he would call his Chinese counterpart to urge China to review its import ban.

Brazil has won a major victory in the fight to restore credibility amid a tainted meat scandal, with key markets China, Egypt and Chile lifting their bans on its products.

Three meat plants were also closed on the same charges; and 18 other factories that export products to Egypt were placed under supervision.

Brazilian federal police raided some of the country’s largest food corporations following accusations that employees had bribed inspectors to allow meat contaminated with salmonella to be imported to Europe and tainted meat to be served at public schools.

Operation Weak Flesh was launched in the early hours of Friday in six Brazilian states after a two-year investigation. China also agreed to lift restrictions on Australian beef imports, adding to competition for Brazil in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.

The kingdom’s Food & Drug Authority stopped imports of beef, poultry and products from four plants operated by BRF SA, Seara Alimentos Ltda, JJZ Alimentos SA and Frango DM Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to the ministry of agriculture, China’s ban on Brazilian products will be suspended tomorrow, with the exception of meat processed in 21 plants still under investigation by Brazilian authorities.

Brazil is the world’s biggest red meat and poultry exporter. Market sources in the USA and the European Union have been limited since 2015 because of avian flu outbreaks.

The scandal has rocked one of the strongest sectors in Brazil’s economy, which has been grappling with its worst recession for more than two years.

The ministry said in a statement that the resumption of importing these products would be from the slaughterhouses approved by Egypt’s General Organization for Veterinary Services (GOVS).

The president several times has pointed out that only 184 consignments of meat were deemed by importers to be in violation of standards, among the 853,000 consignments exported in 2016. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption A Moscow market: Turkey can start shipping to millions of Russian consumers again

Russia has lifted a ban on imports of Turkish food, imposed after a Russian bomber was shot down on the Syria-Turkey border in November 2015.

But Russia is keeping seasonal limits on Turkish tomatoes, to help its own producers of sauces and juices.

Before the ban, Turkey exported food to Russia worth more than €1bn (£873m; $1.1bn) annually.

Russia is also lifting a ban on Turkish workers in the construction sector, in tourism and in hotel businesses.

The food ban affected many items, including fresh Turkish cucumbers, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and chicken and turkey offal.

Russia continues to ban imports of most Western food and drink, in retaliation for wide-ranging Western sanctions in place since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict led to a tightening of Western sanctions, which also target close aides of President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad angered Turkey, which backs Sunni Arab rebels fighting to oust him.

In November 2015 a Turkish F-16 jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber on the Turkey-Syria border. There was a dispute over exactly what happened, and it triggered a freeze in Russian-Turkish relations.

The thaw however began after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed regret over the incident last year. President Putin's first move was to lift a Russian boycott of Turkish holiday resorts.
Saudi Arabia lifts a ban on imports of frozen guava from Egypt.