A van transports empty plastic containers destined for recycling in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, Dec. 10, 2024. (Credit: Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP)
Finance Minister Yassin Jaber has sent the presidency of the Parliament a draft decree abolishing this fee on raw materials intended for industry and imported industrial equipment. A new chapter has thus opened in the saga of Lebanon's waste fee, which taxes polluting products and has been widely rejected by almost all those subject to it.
The decision concerns raw materials and equipment imported by industrialists who already benefit from an exemption from customs duties. In the Lebanese customs tariff, these categories of importers are identified by codes 322 and 522, which designate regimes reserved for imports intended for industrial use. The draft decree therefore aims to exempt them from the waste fee in addition to customs duties.
When contacted, the president of the Association of Industrialists, Selim Zeenni, said the minister made this decision after consulting with stakeholders in the sector in an effort to reduce production costs in Lebanon, an objective also highlighted by the minister in his statement. Zeenni believes the decree should be approved, as expected, by the Parliament as soon as it is placed on the agenda.
"The support will directly benefit Lebanese factories and will remain limited to those who are entitled to it," Jaber insisted in his statement. "The Finance Ministry is working to find a balance between public revenue requirements and support for productive sectors, as these are a key pillar of economic recovery and job creation."
The waste fee, which implements a kind of "polluter pays" principle, has had a long journey since its introduction. Decree No. 3754 of Aug. 27, 2026, ultimately settled on a list of 26 entries, with some industrial raw materials already excluded. Several categories of livestock breeders also spoke out last week, demanding that their feed imports be exempted from this fee.
