A Turkish presidential decree has completely lifted the customs duty on onions, temporarily. The zero-tariff will remain in effect until Feb. 28. According to the decree, the purpose of the move is to curb the rise in the price of onions and to keep the domestic market price of the vegetable at a reasonable level and to prevent any speculative price moves.
Turkey had imposed a 30.9 percent duty on onions imported from Singapore, while the corresponding customs duty rate imposed on other countries was 49.5 percent.
The price of onions had soared 184 percent in 2018, as compared to the previous year. A kilogram of onions went for 4.18 Turkish liras ($ 0.8) in December 2018, according to the latest inflation data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
In December, the price of the onion increased by 16 percent compared to the previous month.
Hurriyetdailynews.com reports how last year, food prices increased by 25 percent while the headline consumer price inflation stood at 20.3 percent. On a monthly basis, food prices were up 1.1 percent.
