Iraq has resumed barley exports, the commerce ministry said Thursday, July 26, despite sanctions imposed on the country for invading Kuwait in 1990.
"We have resumed barley exports after having satisfied domestic demand," a ministry spokesman said, quoted by Al-Zawra weekly newspaper.
"The resumption of barley exports with a price of $60 a ton will allow us to develop this cereal and find it stable markets overseas," he said, without elaborating on the level of exports or which countries were buying the barley.
Iraq argues that a UN oil-for-food program ― launched in 1996 to allow Baghdad to export oil in exchange for food and other essentials such as medicine ― does not meet the 22-million population's most basic needs.
Iraq has the capacity to produce around 780,000 tons of barley a year. ― (AFP, Baghdad)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
