Your Excellency,

We are very concerned about the new, deadly olive disease that has broken out in Italy. The bacterium „Xylella fastidiosa“ (which is spread from tree to tree by insects) has already infected nearly half a million trees and is spreading at an incredible speed. And there is no cure for the disease. This is a great tragedy for Italy!

We are very worried that this disease may reach Lebanon. If this happens, it will spread all over very rapidly, as Lebanon is a small country, and our beautiful, age-old olive trees will die. Also other fruit trees may be at risk from this disease.

We know the Ministry of Agriculture has been informed and there are plans being made to deal with this grave threat. On behalf of all olive farmers in Lebanon, we appeal to you to take action and stop all imports of plants from Italy immediately. There is no time to lose!

It is not enough to stop imports only from the affected areas in Italy. A report by the European Food Safety Authority states that there is a high risk that this disease will spread all over Italy and Europe – and experts believe that it may have spread already. Therefore it is imperative to stop the import of all plants from all areas in Italy.

Please save Lebanon’s olive trees!