October 14, 2003

Indonesia Imposed Temporary Ban on Day-Old Chicks, Hatching Eggs Export

The Indonesian government has imposed a temporary ban on exports of day-old chicks (DOC) and hatching eggs (HE) so as to meet high demand for chicken meat ahead of religious holidays this year.

"The temporary ban is effective from the first to third week of October 2003," director general for the Development of Husbandry Production at the Agriculture Ministry Sofyan Sudardjat said on last Thursday October 9.

DOC and HE exports in September were fairly high, he said, adding that unless the government temporarily banned the export of the commodities, demand for chicken meat and eggs would be unstable at the end of this year.

DOC exports reached 500,000 heads in September valued at US$2.6 m, while HE exports stood at 200,000 valued at US$0.4 m.

Indonesia's DOC and HE exports destination had reached countries such as Brunei, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Nepal.