May 30, 2006
Saudi live poultry demand plummets after new regulations announced
Demand for live poultry has fallen 50 percent in Saudi Arabia after the government announced it is ending the trade in live poultry.
The new rules require all live poultry shops to be shut within four years.
Representatives of the industry say they are trying to extend the timeline, claiming that the industry is presently unprepared for the new rules as it is still fighting competition from foreign producers.
Consumers are also worried that the new law may result in a shortage of fresh poultry. However, the authorities assured the public that the numbers of slaughterhouses would be increased to serve public demand.
While some worry about the closures, others feel that it is a step in the right direction as they feel that live poultry shops require a lot of government monitoring and most get their supplies from unlicensed farms, posing health risks to the public.
Dr Naser Al-Jarallah, head of the slaughterhouse section at the Jeddah Municipality said, many of the present poultry shops and farms do not comply with health regulations and do not employ vets to check poultry.
The new farms and companies that the government is proposing would adhere to government regulations and vets would be employed to monitor the health of the poultry, Al-Jarallah said.
Jabir Al-Shihri, head of the Ministry of Agriculture in Makkah, noted that the disease that had affected some farms was not bird flu but was rather the harmless Newcastle disease.
He also added that closing live poultry shops and farms would not affect production and that the proposed slaughterhouses with an annual production of 96,000 each, would be more than capable of serving local demand.
Dr Zia Al-Othmani, head of the markets department at the Jeddah Municipality, said that the new regulation would be officially implemented in August. He added that the municipality had recently shut down 160 poultry shops for not complying with basic health requirements.
