Tripoli, 9 March 2013:
Tunisian police report that they have prevented an attempt to smuggle barley into Libya, according to the Tunisian . . .[restrict]news agency TAP.
Police from the town of Bir Ali Ben Khalifa in Sfax governorate say they stopped a heavy goods truck with Libyan registration plates containing 14 metric tons of barley. It had come from the largely agricultural governorate of Siliana, south west of Tunis and was leading toward Libya.
Tunisia produces just over half a million metric tons of barley annually but requires around three-quarters of a million tonnes. Most of it is used as a feed for cattle. Local production is heavily subsidised by the Tunisian government to meet domestic requirements.
Last year, Libya imported an estimated 200,000 metric tonnes of barley. [/restrict]
