Iraq’s Trade Ministry begins distributing Rational Card’s items for month of May

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Ministry of Trade has began distributing the items of the government’s Rational Card for the current month of may, a Ministry statement said, calling on all citizens to inform the authorities about an negligence or violations in the Ministry’s services in this respect.   “The foodstuff companies have began distributing the items of the Rational Card for the current month of May, as from May 20 th , and it is continuing that in all Iraqi provinces,” Trade Minister, Kheirullah Hassan Babkir said in a statement on Tuesday.   Minister Babakir said that his Minnistry “is keen to prepare all ingredients of the Rational Card in all stores of the country, through urgent contracts it had concluded to insure the complete list of those ingredients.”   “The Ministry’s companies, responsible for the Rational Card’s items is keen to urgently distribute Brazilian sugar, Canadian and American wheat flour, Thai rice and Turkish vegetable oil, within the share of the current month,” he said. The Minister added that his Ministry have taken new steps and measures for contracts, that were based on transparent and just basis, including consumption period time.   In conclusion, the Iraqi Trade Minister called on all citizens to report any violations of negligence by his Ministry’s officials and services, through the Ministry’s hot phone lines and electronic mail, directly connected to the offices of the Minister, its Inspector-General and Trade Observation.   Noteworthy is that Iraq’s Rational Card was issued by the Iraqi government, after the imposition of the economic siege on Iraq in the early 1990s, comprising the free distribution of foodstuff, cleaning ingredients and other necessary items on all Iraqi citizens.   The distribution of the said items had faced some negligence by the Iraqi authorities, according to complains by some citizens, but the Iraqi authorities had taken practical steps to accelerate the distribution of the ingredients in the Rational Card over the past few months.   SKH (RT)