RIYADH, 10 August — The Commerce Ministry has warned foreign companies against importing Israeli products into the Kingdom, either directly or through a third party. “Any company involved in such fraudulent activities will immediately be blacklisted,” it said.
The ministry’s warning came after its quality control laboratory at the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam seized a consignment of fruit and vegetables suspected to have originated from the Jewish state.
The ministry is investigating the Saudi importer of the shipment, which contained 325 barrels of carrot and grape products weighing 65,000 kilograms, after finding signs that “Made in Israel” stickers had been removed from them.
The products carried the trade mark of Hortex, a Polish company.
An official source at the Saudi ministry said the Polish company had tried to send the Israeli products into the Kingdom. The ministry has listed Hortex Holding SA among the foreign companies whose products are banned from Saudi markets. It has also instructed all quality control centers to reject shipments by the Polish company.
The move comes as experts from 13 Arab states held a meeting in Damascus last July to revive the boycott policy against Israel to exert pressure on the Jewish state to end its military aggression on the Palestinian people.
Dr. Hamad Al-Aufy, director of the quality control laboratory, confirmed that a related department at the ministry had called the Saudi importer to probe the scandal and get all the information related to the shipment. “The ministry will also seek the help of other agencies during the course of its investigation if necessary,” he said, adding that it was not yet confirmed whether or not the Saudi importer knew the origin of the shipment.
The Commerce Ministry has cautioned Saudi businessmen to be careful while signing deals with foreign companies and urged them to be certain of the origin of all imported products. It also instructed quality control centers to intensify monitoring of incoming shipments. The ministry also warned the businessmen against forging documents to get round the boycott of Israeli companies and allied firms. “Such products will be destroyed and the importers will be penalized,” it insisted.
