The Sudanese Ministry of Trade announced that the technical arrangements are in place for the official resumption of border trade between Sudan and South Sudan.

But the ministry added that the matter needs to be reviewed by the presidency because of considerations of security, strategy and sovereignty.

In his remarks to the press yesterday, the state minister of trade Jihad Hamza affirmed that his ministry in collaboration with the Metrology and Standards Corporation as well as Customs Service have completed the necessary arrangements to resume trade between Juba and Khartoum.  

He noted the ministry is not responsible directly for any expired goods imported to Sudan, saying there are other authorities concerned with verification and checking of the expired goods. He added the trade ministry only formulates the general policies and guidelines for internal and external trade.

Meanwhile, traders in Sudan’s West Kordofan State and South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal state are grumbling about unauthorized checkpoints along the border between the two states, where trade has already resumed.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj yesterday, several traders from Warawar market expressed discontent about what they termed a group of Arab nomads who impose heavy taxes on the traders.

“If a trader refuses to pay the taxes imposed by that group, they confiscate the truck and goods -- the taxes that were being paid sometimes to them reach 20,000 pounds," a trader explained