Turkey to import cheese from Venezuela at zero tariff

Turkey on Aug. 21 issued a presidential decree allowing the import of several food products, including cheese, from Venezuela at zero tariff, according to a report in daily Cumhuriyet. The head of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), Remzi Suiçmez, criticized the new implementation saying that such neoliberal policies will damage the Turkish agricultural sector.

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Turkey has issued a presidential decree allowing the import of certain agricultural products from Venezuela at zero tariff, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Aug. 22. The decree came following Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's visit to Venezuela earlier this week, the daily said.

Among these agricultural products are cheese, rice, oat, sunflower seeds, peanuts, sesame seeds, chocolate and cocoa. There will be a limit on the quantity of imports from Venezula at zero level tariff, according to the decree.

The head of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), Remzi Suiçmez, criticized the new implementation saying that such neoliberal policies will damage the Turkish agricultural sector.

“Since 1980s, import-based neoliberal policies are on the agenda. State economic enterprises in the agricultural sector are being closed down,” Suiçmez said, adding that the Turkish agricultural sector should be protected against such policies prioritizing imports.