The Minister of Industry, Joe Issa Al-Khoury, sent a letter to the Director General of the Industrial Research Institute, requesting that an immediate investigation be conducted with the employees concerned with the entry of a cement shipment through the port of Tripoli for the benefit of the “Deir Ammar Metal LLC” company, without subjecting it to the necessary examinations at the Institute, and that appropriate measures be taken against them.
The Minister stressed that he would deposit all documents related to the file and the outcome of the investigation “as quickly as possible.”
He explained in his book that the shipment was entered based on a statement issued by the institute and addressed to the Lebanese Customs Administration, stating that “the goods are not subject to the provisions of the mandatory decrees that they are mandated to implement and/or because they are in small individual quantities.”
He pointed out that the introduction of imported cement into the Lebanese market requires obtaining a statement of approval from the institute, in accordance with Decree No. 9766 issued on March 11, 2003, which gave binding status to Lebanese Standard Specification No. 53 related to cement.
He pointed out that the Director General of the Ministry of Industry had previously informed the General Directorate of Customs of this, according to his letter No. “2016/1349 – 215 AM”, dated July 15, 2026.
Issa Al-Khoury considered that the Institute’s behavior contradicts the applicable decrees and violates the Ministry’s instructions, and may cause great risks, especially to public safety in buildings and constructions, if the shipment does not conform to the specifications.
Accordingly, the Institute was asked to withdraw the aforementioned statement and inform the General Directorate of Customs of the decision to withdraw it and not implement it.
