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Viewing cable 09AMMAN2141, A New Strategy to Curb Rising Food Prices: GOJ to Enter

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09AMMAN2141 2009-09-17 04:26 2011-08-26 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Amman
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #2141/01 2600426
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170426Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5982
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 6293
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 3100
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 4143
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 4245
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 2209
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1874
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 0909
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 5650
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
UNCLAS AMMAN 002141 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA AND EEB 
CAIRO FOR AGMCOUNSELOR JGRESSEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV EAGR SOCI JO
SUBJECT:  A New Strategy to Curb Rising Food Prices: GOJ to Enter 
the Market 
 
REFS: A. AMMAN 1985 
       B. 08 AMMAN 0026 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The GOJ has announced a three-part strategy to 
confront increasing commodity prices:  amending laws, directly 
entering the market with a government trading company, and a public 
awareness campaign on curtailing consumption.  Commodity traders 
were skeptical that the GOJ strategy would work, but welcomed the 
GOJ's entry into the market.  The plan is risky and carries no 
guarantees of success.  End summary. 
 
Royal Intervention to Halt Price Rise 
------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) Following a Royal directive from King Abdullah on September 
10, Minister of Industry and Trade Amer Hadidi unveiled September 13 
a new strategy to control rising prices of basic food commodities 
and ensure availability of essential goods on the local market (ref 
A).  The strategy has three basic components:  amending existing 
laws, having the government enter the market with a new trading 
company, and an awareness campaign. 
 
Amending Existing Laws 
---------------------- 
 
3. (U) The first measure will seek to improve legislation by 
amending existing laws, specifically to revise the Competition Law 
to restrict the near-monopoly control of commodities, specifically 
red meat, and to increase penalties on violators.  The amendment 
would also seek to empower the Consumer Protection Society and 
enhance its role through establishing a unit directly affiliated 
with the Prime Ministry.  The GOJ will also seek to accelerate the 
process of drafting a new Consumer Protection Law that would create 
the watchdog unit under the Prime Minister that would monitor the 
market.  Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture will amend the 
rules and regulations for importing meat to allow meat from new 
sources to enter the country, and for shipments of livestock to 
enter Jordan through multiple customs/inspections points, in 
addition to the current one in Aqaba.  According to Agriculture 
Minister Said Masri, the new rules are expected to be issued "within 
days." 
 
GOJ to Establish a Trading Company 
---------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) The second component will focus on the government's entry 
into the commodities market as a new and strong player able to lower 
prices.  Hadidi said this will be implemented through a joint 
venture undertaken between the GOJ and the Jordan Armed Forces and 
would be established within the next three months.  The new entity 
is expected to being operations during the first quarter of 2010. 
The facilities of Jordan Silos and the General Supply Company would 
be used for storage.  The new company will trade in 13 basic food 
commodities which Hadidi declined to disclose at this stage, but 
confirmed that it will begin by importing red meat into the local 
market.  The new entity will follow commercial methods in setting 
prices by examining wholesale prices, import costs, and adding a 
profit margin.  Imported products will be sold in government-owned 
commissaries, which are open for all consumers and are similar to 
privately-owned supermarket chains with government ownership.  A 
greater role in the market for commissaries would translate into 
lower prices for consumers because commissions for middlemen would 
be eliminated.  Hadidi claimed that this action does not represent a 
retreat from the free market policies that the government has been 
adopting. 
 
Awareness Campaign 
------------------ 
 
5. (U) The third and final aspect of the strategy is an awareness 
campaign to educate Jordanian consumers about using substitute 
products, such as opting for different brand names and generic 
products instead of better-known brands, or dried instead of canned 
fruits and vegetables, as well as informing consumers about the 
importance of rationing consumption. 
 
Traders Skeptical, But Welcoming of GOJ Efforts 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
6. (SBU) Local traders were skeptical about the GOJ's ability to 
reduce prices, but they welcomed the government's entry into the 
market.  Emad Shaban from Shaban group, one of the major food 
commodities suppliers in Jordan, told EmbOff that Shaban will 
maintain its competitive advantage in the market through quality, 
brand name, marketing techniques and knowledge of the market and its 
mechanisms.  Mushair Al Shaer of the same group commented that 
anyone can import rice into the market, but that does not mean that 
anyone can survive in this market.  He claimed that at times Shaban 
sells at prices below cost and questioned if the government has such 
capacity.  Fierce competition currently exists in the market and 
such competition does not allow for a monopoly, Al Shaer added, 
challenging the GOJ premise that certain traders control the market. 
 He gave the example of dried almonds where four different companies 
import them from the U.S., and none of them can set the market price 
for almonds.  Nader Awad of Yousef Nader Group, another major 
supplier in the market, believes that the new company will have no 
major impact on the market as the pricing problem lies with the 
retailers and not the importers.  Awad reminded EmbOffs that basic 
commodity prices are set by international commodity exchanges and 
not by importers. 
 
Red-Meat Brinksmanship 
---------------------- 
 
7. (SBU) Zakeria Al Qassem, CEO of the Hijazi and Gosheh Company, 
which monopolizes the red-meat market in Jordan and is a major 
supplier for the MENA region, told EmbOff that it will exit the 
market if the GOJ wants to "play games."  He claimed that Jordan is 
its smallest market, with $500 million annually from the sheep trade 
and 1,500 Jordanian employees.  He claimed that the company pays the 
GOJ more than $20 million a year in taxes and fees, suggesting that 
pushing the business outside of Jordan would hurt Jordan rather than 
his company. 
 
8. (SBU) Comment:  The GOJ seems to be caught between its belief in 
a free market economy and the pain felt by average Jordanians as 
commodity prices continue to increase, adding more pressure on the 
lower and shrinking middle income families.  While curbing prices is 
politically popular, it is highly unclear that establishing a new 
public sector company will achieve the goal of lowering prices for 
consumers.  Other options would be for the GOJ to further remove 
trade barriers such as import restrictions on meat, increase the 
number of active government-owned commissaries, allow commissaries 
to compete with large retailers and importers in order to have the 
power to lower prices through market mechanisms, simplify 
legislation and regulations, and direct the Jordan Silo and General 
Supply Company to better manage the strategic commodity reserves. 
These steps could help stabilize prices without having the GOJ 
directly enter the market, which would represent a risky strategy 
that might not succeed.  End Comment. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
BEECROFT