A meeting was held on February 16th between the Minister of Economy and Trade Sami Haddad and a delegation of the Association of Lebanese farmers, to inform these farmers about the recommendations resulting from the last meeting of the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League (CESA) in Cairo. Mr. Sami Haddad discussed also with the farmers the implementation of the recommendations published after the extraordinary meeting of the Council in October in Beirut. One of these recommendations is the agricultural calendar proposed by the Lebanese delegation concerning the following products: tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, strawberries, watermelons, yellow plums, apples, almonds and melons. According to this calendar, these products won't be exempted from custom taxes if imported during specific periods of the year. "This calendar aims at supporting the agricultural sector and protecting the local market from the import of some products from Arab countries", confirmed Sami Haddad who added that these custom taxes could reach 70%. The approval of this calendar has been greeted by the president of the association of farmers Antoine Howayek.