In a hearing held by the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) on Consumer Protection Procedures and Measures at the Salah Eddin Commercial Gate, participants recommended that relevant ministries implement consumer protection procedures at the Salah Eddin gate (Rafah-Egypt). Discussants stressed the need to consolidate the efforts of the Ministry of National Economy (MoNE), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and Ministry of Health (MoH) to control, keep, and examine goods before they enter the Gaza Strip and distributed in the local market.
The hearing was attended by Dr. Ayman Aabed, Gaza-based MoNE Undersecretary. The discussion focused on using the Salah Eddin gate as a commercial crossing between Egypt and Gaza. In addition to management mechanisms, the meeting reviewed the current movement of goods in the absence of adequate accountability with a view to ensuring consumer protection procedures at the gate.
Wael Ba’alousha, AMAN Gaza Office Director, asserted that the MoNE needs to play its role under the current circumstances in spite of multiple accountability lines, which followed partial implementation of the national reconciliation agreement. Ba’lousha placed a special emphasis on consumer protection procedures, which are directly associated with Palestinian citizens’ lives.
Marwa Abo Odeh, Advocacy and Community Accountability Coordinator at AMAN, reviewed key information, which AMAN has recently monitored about Salah Eddin gate. Primary and secondary commodities are entered through this gate. According to Abo Odeh, the danger lies in the fact that the gate was opened in line with an agreement concluded between private contracting companies in Gaza and Egypt under the auspices of Hamas. In other words, official authorities, including the MoNE, were not involved in opening and managing the gate. Only engaging the Ministry of Finance, commodities are directly imported by merchants and transported by Egyptian trucks to Gaza. The MoA, MoH, and MoNE are absent. In an uncontrolled process, prices are set directly by merchants.
In his comments, Aabed highlighted citizens’ right of access to information, reiterating the importance of complying with transparency and integrity standards in the management of all public services and institutions.
Aabed explained that Salah Eddin gate was not an official commercial crossing. It is an old gate that has been opened in cooperation with the Egyptian side to enter needed primary and secondary commodities to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
Replying to a number of inquiries, Aabed confirmed that the MoNE recognised the need to control the goods imported from Egypt. In the context of coordination with the MoA and MoH, the MoNE has formed a committee to consolidate ministries’ efforts to put in place consumer protection procedures. According to Aabed, the first practical step was initiated early this month. An inspection office was established at the entrance to Salah Eddin gate. Including staff members of all relevant ministries, the inspection office keeps, examines, and enters commodities into Gaza. Invalid or substandard commodities are seized and damaged.
Aabed also stated that the MoNE would invigorate oversight of import permits over the upcoming period. Permits will not be granted to all merchants. Rather, they will be limited to those commodities which meet the needs of the Gaza Strip.
The hearing was held in light of the recent developments associated with the entry of goods into Gaza through Salah Eddin gate after Israel had denied access through the Karm Abu Salem crossing. In light of inadequate accountability mechanisms, consumer protection procedures and measures should be promoted and taken seriously. Over the past three months, Salah Eddin gate has been an entry point for imported consumer commodities, including food supplies and some agricultural products.
