Turkey prepares to import 9,000 tonnes of cattle

The state-owned Meat and Fish Institution (EBK) is expected to import 9,000 tonnes of cattle to be slaughtered in Turkey, in a bid to halt extreme price hikes.

The institution looks at purchasing 4,025 tonnes of cattle from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary. Meanwhile, the organisation is also preparing to import 5,000 tonnes of cattle from the US, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile and is expected to hold a tender for livestock procurement from these countries in Ankara on May 6.

Ahead of the tenders, the organisation announced their livestock import criteria on Monday (May 3). Turkey will only allow imports of male cattle. The livestock should be in good health and must each have an ear tag number that provides data on the characteristics of the animal along with the results of its latest health check.

The imported cattle will be delivered to EBK slaughterhouses in the provinces of Adana, Konya, Ankara, Sakarya, Erzurum, Ağrı and Bingöl.

Turks based in Europe in the red meat export business said last week that they could mitigate the current red meat shortage in the Turkish market, offering meat for as little as half the current price in Turkey. Turkey has not allowed imported meat into the country since a ban was instituted eight years ago as a result of the mad cow disease scare.

The Turkish red meat market has experienced an unprecedented rise in prices over the past few weeks. Some parties have reacted negatively to the decision to restart red meat imports, suggesting that allowing red meat imports would deal a major blow to Turkish stockbreeders, while others said the best solution to address the current shortage would be an increase in stockbreeding. Observers have also argued that the health and safety concerns of the public should be taken into consideration.