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Hisham Aljundi
Doha
A day after the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) ordered shops to strip shelves of products imported from the siege countries, shopping was going on usual on Sunday with stores brimming with local products.
Many said they have now been familiar with the good quality alternative products available in the market for the last one year.
Ismael Tuhami, an expatriate who is in Qatar for the last 13 years, said he didn't find any change as he's been buying these products for quite some time now.
"In fact, I was only buying local and Turkish products and the removal of those items made no difference to me. There is plenty of everything," he said.
Store managers said that they had removed all the items which were supposed to be removed and sent back to their suppliers' stores.
"We have finished removing all items from the blockading countries from our shelves and handed them back to their suppliers. We received no complaints and customers can still find all their items," a store manager at Carrefour said.
He added that products removed from the stores were mainly edible items.
There are more than six alternatives of Sadia chicken available in the market at a cheaper price now.
He said the new items were selling better than the removed ones.
Welcoming the move, Central Municipal Council member Abdulrahman al Khulaifi said,"The decision was wise and we trust our government. We have proved that we are good without the blockading countries' products."
He hoped that local merchants will not be affected by this step in the long run.
Mohammed Ali al Athba, another CMC member, said the boycott of products from the blockading countries was a normal response to the violations committed by those countries since the beginning of the siege.
"They have violated morals and international laws with th unjust blockade."
Athba said the decision is in the favour of the people in Qatar, so everyone has to comply with it.
"We received some complaints from merchants who supplied those products and said they should have been notified two months in advance, but we urge everybody to understand that it is the responsibility of everyone to stand together until the problem is solved," he said, adding that the government has taken the step after thorough study.
Qatar has decided to remove products originating from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.
In a statement, the Government Communications Office (GCO) said,"Products originating from the blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the GCC customs territory, have to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures."
"Qatar conducts its trade policy in accordance with all of its multilateral and bilateral agreements."
"On June 5, 2017, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt unexpectedly announced that they would close its land and sea borders, as well as its airports, territory and airspace, to goods destined for Qatar. These measures impacted all goods passing across (or that could pass across)," it said.
To protect the safety of consumers in Qatar and to combat improper trafficking of goods, the government issued a directive to find new suppliers of the variety of goods impacted, the statement noted.
