The delay in handling imported consumer goods, especially meat and vegetables, at the Jeddah Islamic Port has resulted in huge losses for many traders and those who take delivery of goods. They complained that the delay in taking delivery leads to the decay of many perishable goods. Traders claim customs officials' suspicion that imported goods, especially red meat, could have originated from banned countries, and the subsequent intensification of checking, are major reasons for the delays. Traders said that they had been extremely happy when the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) first opened its branch office at the port, expecting that this would expedite the imported goods' delivery procedures. However, things have only gotten more complicated after the office opened, traders complained. Ayed Al-Siraji, an employee at the customs clearance wing, said that traders had hoped the move would protect their goods from exposure to the sun and climatic changes. “However, this did not happen as huge quantities of imported goods such as bags of rice, flour and lentils remained piled up on the port premises, awaiting completion of their delivery procedures. We saw some of these goods being exposed to sun and dust storms for several days in the open area after containers were offloaded,” he said, attributing the situation mainly to the insufficient number of SFDA officials at the port. An official from the SFDA has rejected the claims, saying that procedures are going on as usual without any delay. “We have to ensure the safety of imported goods, especially because there are some blacklisted countries trying to import goods to the Kingdom via third countries,” the official said. However, an official has confirmed that about 200 tons of frozen meat worth roughly SR600,000 is now rotten due to the delay in taking deliveries for about two months, according to a report in Al-Madinah Arabic daily. Ibrahim Al-Oqaili, chairman of the Customs Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said that recently there has been a delay of 15 days in completing procedures of meat delivery. “Samples of meat have to be sent for laboratory tests, mainly because of the suspicion about illegal importation of goods from some countries in the blacklist. We are asking the SFDA office to explain to traders the actual reason.” Al-Oqaili said the reasons for the delays — which have become more frequent in the last two months — in the delivery of frozen meat were strange. “SFDA officials had a wrong notion that these consignments came from unknown sources and therefore they are rotten. This is strange as these goods came through different means of transportation from various countries,” he said. Al-Oqaili said around five containers of frozen meat had been seized and destroyed after SFDA officials came to the conclusion that the meat was rotten. He suggested that in such instances, traders be given a chance to send representatives. These representatives could verify whether SFDA officials carried out the tests meticulously or superficially.
