Exports of dates will be subject to customs duty from April 3 to May 20, Hamid Zadboum, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, announced in a letter to the National Association of Iranian Dates.
The rate of the duty will be announced in the near future, he added.
The measure is aimed at regulating the domestic market during the holy month of Ramadan and preventing a probable price increase in the domestic market, as consumption increases during the month since dates are a typical staple of Muslims ending their daily fasts.
The new decision comes as economic players have time and again voiced their opposition to imposing export tariffs on the product.
According to Ahmad Farshchian, the head of Agriculture Commission of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, date production reached 800,000 tons in the year ending March 2019, of which 380,000 tons (nearly half) were exported.
“The current Iranian year’s output is expected to hit 1 million tons. An estimated 100,000 tons were exported during the eight months to Nov. 21, which is about 270,000-280,000 tons fewer than last year. The country is now facing an excess supply of dates, which is to be partly blamed on export duty," he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Per capita date consumption in Iran is 3 kilograms (per year).
This year, in particular, besides higher demand during Ramadan, prices have skyrocketed in line with runaway inflation in Iran.