Reforms in the Jordanian economy are expected to result in the removal of customs duty from more than half of the imported products.
The Jordanian government’s order to reduce and standardize customs fees, which will bring about the aforementioned reduction, has been published in the official gazette, official sources have said.
As a result, it will come into force next week, said the official sources.
Mohammad al-Ississ, the finance minister, told reporters that the order contributes to strengthening Jordanians’ purchasing power and breathing life into trade and tourism.
Al-Ississ said tax evasion and smuggling will be checked in light of the many customs reforms.
The new reforms are expected to guarantee the exemption of over 53 percent of imported goods from customs fees.
Another 40 percent of the goods will be subject to a 5 percent fee, al-Ississ said.
He noted that cars, alcohol, and tobacco would not be exempted from customs fees.
Al-Ississ added that the order does not cover commodities bought online.
He explained that the reason for this was to encourage consumers to buy locally produced goods.
He said this would create an “equilibrium between electronic and traditional trade.”
This is line with the country’s latest economic policies.
Jordan has already set up a fund with a corpus of $80 million to support its own industries.