February 22, 2006

Iran stops red meat exports

A senior Iranian official of the red meat industry said on Tuesday that export of livestock has been banned to check record prices at home.

Iran exported more than 1.6 million heads of livestock in the past 10 months according to Syed Kazem Samadi Eraqi, who heads the board of directors of Mutton Producers Association, adding that the figure only represented the number of livestock exported through legal channels.

He further noted that there is no official organization in charge of controlling the red meat industry. Market prices of chicken and eggs have fallen sharply in recent weeks whereas there was a steep rise in prices of red meat and fish.

Red meat consumption has gone up in the wake of consumers' shunning of chicken due to fears of bird flu.

Agriculture Minister Mohammad Eskandari said earlier that the government may have to import red meat to check rising prices. Thousands of birds have reportedly been culled in Iran and people were advised to cook chicken and eggs well before eating.