Its spread is expanding. Do products sold via e-commerce sites meet safety conditions?

Al Anbat-Zaina Al Barboor 

Translated by: Deema Alkhateeb 

Online shops have spread widely in Jordan, especially after the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent closures, which have affected most sectors, prompting citizens to buy their products remotely, which in turn has provided them with easy shopping and time savings.

 These stores continue to operate today, especially after the substantial sums of money they have made. But citizens wonder: are these products, especially food, subject to security and safety conditions? Do you have real licenses and pay taxes to the Department of Income and Sales like other occupations? Is the customs regime applicable to external postal packages? On these questions, the State Foundation for Food and Drug Administration confirmed in a talk to Al Anbat that household food products are licensed by the State Foundation for Food and Medicine, noting that one of its licensing requirements is the introduction of domestic professionals who pledge to allow food inspectors to enter the house at any time for inspection purposes. According to this foundation, homes with a license are visited on a regular basis in accordance with the enterprise's risk program, and these products in the local market are followed up on by ascertaining the attached statement cards and collecting routine samples to indicate their validity and conformity with their technical rule.

Food and Drug Administration explained that for unlicensed products sold illegally, some of which are sold through some social media platforms and e-stores, security and cybercrime agencies are cooperating to control them, know their sources, and take legal action against violators using only due process.

Greater Amman Municipality Media Spokesman Nasser Rahamneh stated that all food professions sold through electronic shops require licenses from the secretariat. It is also required to obtain prior approval from the FDA and be followed up by them.

 He stressed that anyone who violates the Food Professions Act shall be warned for one month. If the situation is not corrected, it will be violated and closed, with the provision that if they are unable to close it, the administrative governor will be contacted to bring him in and take legal and administrative action against him. For his part, the media spokesman of the Tax Department, Musa al-Tarawneh, explained that all electronic shops are obliged to register with the Income and Sales Tax Department. But the question remains: do all markets pay their taxes? In the same vein, the Director of Customs, Zaid Bey al Majali Shipping Airport, confirmed that the postal packages arrive at Queen Alia Airport to be inspected via special devices. This is a security measure that indicates there are parcel inspectors based on the values and Cabinet decision. He explained that packages with low values come directly to the stakeholders through the shipping companies. Packages with high values or requiring approvals from the relevant authorities are not booked until the approvals are duly presented, speculated, or customs data is regulated. It is worth mentioning that the global share of e-commerce jumped from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020, and the e-commerce market continues to thrive yesterday.