Lebanese Government Approves MORE Taxes Under the Guise of Environmentalism

On Thursday, August 13, the Lebanese government approved an amended version of Decree No. 3214, imposing new “environmental taxes” on a wide range of products to help fund the country’s waste management system.

An older version of the decree had been paused following backlash from industrialists and consumers. It has now passed with amendments, but the impact is still devastating to a deeply struggling population. The decree was approved despite objections from the ministers of Health, Labor, Telecommunications, and Industry.

So, What Are We Paying For?

The new fees range from 1.5% to 3%, depending on the product. Some of the affected categories include construction materials, plastics, clothing, cosmetics, machinery, electrical equipment, toys, vehicles, tobacco products, and alcohol.

Customs will collect the fees from importers when the products enter Lebanon. While the importer technically pays the fee, the additional cost is obviously going to make its way to consumers through higher prices, as everything else does. That is particularly concerning for industrialists, since some of the affected products are raw materials and inputs used in local manufacturing. Adding costs at the import stage will likely increase the price of locally produced goods as well.

All this as people grapple with dual electric bills, skyrocketing prices, suffocating inflation, and an attempt to recover from a war that is still ongoing for a third of the country.

More Fees, Same Old Problems

There is a reasonable argument behind the “polluter pays” principle. Lebanon needs a functioning waste management system, and someone has to pay for it, but it is difficult to look at another round of fees without looking at the bigger picture.

Lebanon has spent decades failing to properly manage its waste, while citizens have already absorbed the cost of a financial collapse they did not create. People lost their savings as bank owners and complicit politicians got away unscathed. Purchasing power has been decimated and businesses are struggling with unmanageable operating costs.

How many more costs can be pushed onto people while the institutions responsible for Lebanon’s ongoing collapse continue to avoid paying the price themselves?