One of the giant cranes that were installed at the container terminal of the Port of Tripoli on May 21, 2023. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — For several weeks, clearance operations for goods unloaded at the Port of Tripoli, in North Lebanon, have slowed to a crawl.
During a meeting at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Tripoli MP Achraf Rifi indicated that 2,700 containers were stuck in the port. Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, Finance Minister Yassine Jaber — whose ministry oversees the General Directorate of Customs — dismissed this figure, saying the real number is closer to 400 and that the situation would soon resolve itself.
A source at the port confirmed the minister's estimate and assured that the issue was independent of transporters and concerned customs alone.
Jaber explained to L’Orient-Le Jour that it all began in early September. At least two seizures of illegal goods — cocaine and smuggled medications — took place at the Port of Tripoli as part of operations launched by authorities, who have doubled down on efforts, particularly in response to pressure from Arab states to combat drug trafficking.
"When the shipment of medicines was seized, certain elements revealed that a customs inspector on duty had been facilitating fraud during clearance operations," the minister added.
The General Directorate of Customs then decided to tighten controls at both the Beirut port and the Port of Tripoli. The challenge was to increase inspections for containers already unloaded as well as those yet to be delivered.
Manual inspections
"The only scanner available to customs inspectors at Tripoli port is an old model and not very effective. For this reason, I asked that certain containers, identified according to pre-established criteria, be opened and checked manually," said the minister. He said he had also deployed two new inspectors in recent months to join the five already in place.
"This tightening has always been considered a temporary measure while waiting for the arrival of new scanners, which are to be deployed in October," the minister said. These devices can inspect 60 containers per hour, compared to a maximum of 40 with the current ones, and can store the images collected.
On the ground, operations have slowed to the point of stalling entirely. A transporter, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that some clients have been waiting for weeks to access their containers, which have been sitting on the quay. In the press and on social media, the minister has been accused of completely blocking clearance operations at the Port of Tripoli. "This desire to distort reality is typical of smugglers’ tactics," the minister told our publication.
On Thursday, he decided to speak publicly on the topic: "Following several reports from security services indicating dysfunctions at the port and seizures of illegal goods, the minister asked the General Directorate of Customs to step up inspections of suspect containers and verify their contents before releasing them from the port, to ensure shipments match their declarations and to sanction offenses," a statement noted.
"Some activists on social media are waging campaigns that they try to present in a sectarian light, claiming the finance minister has suspended entry of containers at the Port of Tripoli," wrote the minister's press office, from the Amal Movement in alliance with Hezbollah.
However, "no decision has been made to stop container entry at Tripoli port, in any form whatsoever," it insisted, emphasizing that the minister nevertheless ordered strengthened controls to "fight smuggling."
On Friday, on the sidelines of a news conference launching the Finance Ministry’s new online service, Jaber again raised the connection between tighter security measures and the seizure of several shipments of contraband goods at the port.
"All we have done is require that containers suspected of irregularities undergo thorough inspection, so that smugglers feel they are being watched. This will help improve the image of this strategic port, which we want to become one of the most important in the future," he added.
According to the minister and a port source, the General Directorate of Customs decided this week to ease the tightened control measures to limit inspection only to containers that arrived before a certain date and may present a risk.
"This will greatly simplify things," the source said. The minister also indicated that his office is working to establish a computerized system for pre-declaration of goods, which should strengthen controls at all the country’s ports without slowing the clearance process.
