Raw Stone Sparks Confrontation Within Chambers of Commerce.. Al-Nabali: The Union of Chambers Has Exceeded Its Role as a 'Neutral Arbiter'

Ramallah - Afaq News report - The dispute over the export of Palestinian raw stone to Jordan is no longer limited to the question: Will the export continue or stop? After months of debate over the exported quantities, quotas, and the powers of the Ministry of Economy and the Stone and Marble Industry Union, the disagreement has moved within the commercial chambers themselves, following the issuance of a letter by the President of the Palestinian Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, Abdou Idris, to the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry regarding the issuance of certificates of origin for the raw stone exported to Jordan.

In a letter dated September 16, addressed to the President of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Samir Hazoun, Idris requested that no certificate of origin be issued for any of the companies listed in the letters sent to the chamber and directed from the Ministry of National Economy, except after obtaining a letter from the Stone and Marble Union.

The letter, which Afaq News obtained a copy of, was titled "Circular Regarding the Issuance of Certificates of Origin for Raw Stone Intended for Export to Jordan," and stated that the Federation of Chambers "urges" the concerned chambers not to issue certificates of origin for the relevant companies except after obtaining a letter from the Stone and Marble Union. It also requested that the President of the Bethlehem Chamber "kindly instruct those concerned to act in accordance with the contents of this letter."

However, this procedure opened a new confrontation, not only regarding raw stone but also concerning the limits of the powers of the Ministry of Economy, the Federation of Chambers, the commercial chambers, and the sectoral unions in managing Palestinian foreign trade.

Al-Nabali: The decision is rejected and an overreach of the powers of the Ministry of Economy.

Mohammad Zaid Al-Nabali, Vice President of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, strongly criticized the letter, considering that what was issued by the President of the Federation of Chambers represents an overreach of the powers of the Ministry of National Economy and an interference in the work of the commercial chambers.

Al-Nabali stated that the letter regarding the non-issuance of certificates of origin except with the approval of the Stone and Marble Federation represents "an assault on the powers of the Ministry of Economy and undermines the work of the commercial chambers in favor of an institution that originally follows the membership of its members to the chambers."

He demanded the immediate withdrawal of the letter sent to the chambers, emphasizing that the commercial chambers "are their own masters and operate only within the law and regulations," as he put it.

He added: "It is forbidden to marginalize the members of the chambers' councils by an individual decision," before making a direct criticism of the way the file is managed: "Commercial chambers are not a shop for any council member," warning against what he described as "favoritism at the expense of the law and the marginalization of the chambers."

Al-Nabali's position raises a fundamental legal and administrative question: Can the President of the Federation of Chambers obligate a commercial chamber not to issue a certificate of origin based on a request from a sectoral federation, or is the issuance of certificates of origin exclusively subject to the authority and procedures determined by the Ministry of Economy?

He added in his speech: "The President of the Union of Chambers heads a coordinating council for the chambers, and is not an 'executive president' who has the authority to issue binding executive orders to the Bethlehem or Ramallah chambers regarding the daily transactions of their members (such as certificates of origin), and his request to not issue a certificate of origin except with the approval of the Stone and Marble Union is legally considered 'an infringement on the administrative independence of the chamber' and creates a new procedural condition not stipulated by law."

He added: "This intervention has portrayed the union president as biased towards the manufacturing sector (the Stone Union) against the exporters and quarries sector, which has deprived the union of its role as a 'neutral arbiter' in organizing the economy."

A story that began with 'white gold'

The current dispute is not a recent development. In May, 'Oqaf News' published a report titled 'White Gold... An Escalating Dispute Over the Export of Raw Stone to Jordan,' which highlighted a disagreement within the stone and marble sector regarding the export of raw stone to the Jordanian market, after the Stone and Marble Industry Union requested the Ministry of National Economy to halt exports, in contrast to exporters' objections to this step.

In that report, it became clear that the issue goes beyond the export itself to a larger question regarding who has the decisive authority: is it the Stone Industry Union as the sector representative, or the Ministry of National Economy as the official reference, or has the multiplicity of unions and entities representing the sector imposed a different formula for decision-making?

The Stone Industry Union had previously called for a halt to the export of raw stone to Jordan, citing what it claimed was a loss in added value and job opportunities due to the export of raw materials instead of local manufacturing. Meanwhile, exporters objected to any unilateral decision that threatens the Jordanian market, warning of its repercussions on the sector and its trade relations.

In contrast, and within its authority, the Ministry of National Economy granted export permits for raw stone to a number of exporters, who began the export operations.

700 cubic meters monthly.. a figure that ignited the dispute

According to what was published by "Ufuq News" in May, previous agreements between the Ministry of Economy and the Stone Industry Union regulated the export of about 700 cubic meters of raw stone to Jordan monthly, which amounts to approximately 8,400 cubic meters annually.

As the dispute widened, the Construction Industries Union entered the fray, demanding a share of the quota, while the fundamental question remained about which entity has the final decision in regulating these quantities.

Jordan was not merely a market for the disposal of raw stone in this equation, as the previous report described the Jordanian market as an important link in the Palestinian export chain and a gateway to broader markets, especially in the Gulf.

In June, the Construction Industries Federation confirmed that the Jordanian market would remain open to Palestinian producers who meet legal requirements, emphasizing that export decisions are the prerogative of the Palestinian government and the Ministry of National Economy, considering that the continuation of exports maintains the presence of Palestinian products in Arab markets.

From the suspension of exports to the certificate of origin

The new aspect of the current confrontation is that the dispute has shifted from attempting to influence the export decision to the mechanism for dealing with the certificate of origin, which is a fundamental document in foreign trade.

While Nabali believes that the Ministry of Economy has jurisdiction over the export decision and that the chambers operate according to the law and regulations, the letter from the President of the Federation of Chambers requested the Bethlehem Chamber not to issue certificates of origin for the concerned companies except after obtaining a letter from the Stone and Marble Federation.

Consequently, the question is no longer just: Is raw stone exported to Jordan? But it has also become: Who has the right to set the condition that precedes the issuance of the certificate of origin?

Does the letter issued by the Federation of Chambers represent an internal regulatory procedure to protect the stone sector and control the export process, or does it practically create an additional condition for exporters that only the official competent authority possesses?

Whether the President of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry adheres to the letter issued by the President of the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture or not, those following the developments of this file see a clear convergence between the position of the Board of Directors of the Stone and Marble Federation and the position of the President of the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, according to Al-Nabali.

Al-Nabali goes on to say that this convergence cannot be separated from the previous dispute between the Stone Industry Federation and the Ministry of Economy regarding the export of raw stone to Jordan.

Al-Nabali stated, "This convergence between them indicates that the President of the Federation of Chambers has positioned himself as a lawyer and judge on behalf of the Stone Federation, after the federation failed to pressure the Minister of National Economy to prevent the export of raw stone."

The Minister of National Economy demanded to "stop the interventions of the President of the Federation of Chambers in the historical economic relations with Jordan."

What is the purpose of this circular?

The author places the timing of the book in a more sensitive context, considering that its release comes at a time when the Union of Chambers and Palestinian and Jordanian economic institutions are seeking to enhance trade relations with Jordan, rather than diminish them.

He said that this behavior "comes at a sensitive and critical time, and carries serious implications." He questioned the usefulness of these measures, especially since they come, according to him, less than a month before the holding of an exhibition for Palestinian industries in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

He added: "As a Palestinian citizen and Vice President of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I apologize to our brothers in Jordan for this irresponsible behavior."

This statement reflects the sensitivity that the file carries for Palestinian-Jordanian economic relations, especially after exporters previously warned that losing the Jordanian market does not only mean losing a direct market, but it could also affect a broader chain of relations and markets that pass through Jordan.

But what does the Stone Union say?

On the other hand, the latest book cannot be read in isolation from the position of the Stone and Marble Industry Union, which demanded that the file be managed according to the procedures that were previously in place, relying on what it described as a ministerial decision granting it the right to manage the export file of raw stone within the allocated quotas for export to Jordan.

The union also confirmed that its objection is not only related to the procedural aspect, but also to what it considers the economic impacts of exporting raw materials, in terms of added value, job opportunities, the sustainability of industrial facilities, and obtaining the necessary raw materials for production.

The confrontation is bigger than a certificate of origin.

Thus, it seems that the raw stone file has entered a new phase of conflict. Initially, the dispute was about whether to stop exporting raw stone to Jordan or to continue doing so. Then the disagreement shifted to the quota and who has the right to benefit from and manage it.

Today, part of the confrontation has moved to the certificate of origin itself, and who has the authority to control its issuance and the conditions required to obtain it.

Between the Ministry of National Economy, the Stone and Marble Industry Union, the Construction Industries Union, the Union of Agricultural and Industrial Chambers, and the commercial chambers, the Palestinian exporter finds himself facing a complex network of entities and positions.

Here, the most important issue arises, which "Afaq News" began to raise since the report on "white gold": Is the dispute in Palestine about the stone itself, or about who holds the decision in the stone sector?

The recent letter does not stop the export of raw stone to Jordan in itself, but it adds a new link to the series of disputes regarding the management of this file. In contrast, Nabali's objection is not limited to the content of the letter, but challenges the limits of the authority on which the head of the chambers relied to direct a commercial chamber regarding a document related to foreign trade.

As the dispute escalates between institutions and federations, the resolution hinges on two questions: What is the legal basis upon which the Chamber of Commerce's letter relied? And who has the final authority over the regulation of the export of any commodity, including raw stone, and the issuance of certificates of origin?

These are two questions that cannot be resolved through exchanged statements, but rather by referring to the law and the ministerial decisions regulating exports, and the specific powers assigned to each entity.

In this position, Al-Nabali brings back to the forefront the issue of separating powers between commercial chambers and specialized industrial federations, which is a broader issue than the current dispute over the export of raw stone. He considers that the overlap of roles between the two parties opens the door to such disputes over who holds the decision-making power and who has the right to direct the chambers.

Al-Nabali called on the Prime Minister to intervene to achieve justice and resolve the issue of powers, urging the publication of the presidential decree related to separating the powers of commercial chambers from specialized industrial federations in the official gazette, which he believes would put an end to the existing overlap and clearly define the jurisdiction of each entity, especially in matters affecting foreign trade, certificates of origin, and exporters' rights.