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The Minister of Commerce, Tayeb Zitouni.
Algeria is in no way planning to freeze its imports, but rather to regulate them so as not to harm national production. This was made clear by the Minister of Trade and Export Promotion, Tayeb Zitouni.
During a plenary session at the Council of the Nation, Mr. Zitouni thus set the record straight, highlighting the semantic nuance between “freeze” and “regulate”, affirming that the government’s approach, far from constituting a freeze on imports, is part of an overall strategy aimed at stimulating national production, diversifying the economy and protecting consumers.
To consolidate his remarks, he presented figures illustrating the evolution of imports. Last year, 32,550 invoices from 7,772 importers were processed, with a total value of around $14 billion, an increase of 38% compared to 2022, attesting to growing economic momentum. This increase was accompanied by a control of import spending, the bill standing at $44 billion in 2023 compared to $60 billion previously.
Zitouni also denounced the pressure exerted on Algeria to reverse its sovereign decisions regarding imports. He reaffirmed that Algeria did not import products that it could produce itself.
“Some parties have created a great media stir by talking about the closure of Algeria’s foreign trade, while we import for a value of 44 billion dollars,” he insisted.
The minister added that this import control policy has had concrete positive effects on the economy, including in particular the development and diversification of the economic fabric due to the fact that many importers have transformed into manufacturers and even exporters, particularly in the agri-food sector, thus generating thousands of jobs.
Furthermore, Mr. Zitouni addressed the issue of counterfeiting, a phenomenon which negatively affects the national economy and the health of consumers. He recalled the efforts made by the Ministry of Commerce to fight against this scourge, in particular through the establishment of reinforced control mechanisms and consumer awareness. It said 17 complaints were filed in 2023 and 11 in the first quarter of 2024, most of which related to food products.
In addition, concrete actions were carried out with 52 reports of legal proceedings established and 31.75 tonnes and the seizure of 4,718 units of counterfeit products. The first manager of the sector also called on consumers to get involved in the fight against counterfeiting by reporting suspicious products and favoring authentic products.
It should be noted that the minister announced the launch of a workshop aimed at updating and adapting the legislation governing commercial practices, the objective being to adapt them to current economic changes, in particular e-commerce.