14 - 20 December 2000
Issue No.512
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 14 - 20 December 2000 Issue No.512 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Beef ban
FOLLOWING the announcement of a four-week ban on livestock imports from Western Europe, due to the reappearance of mad cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopthy known as BSE), sales of imported meat dropped dramatically reports Mona El-Fiqi.
Minister of Internal Trade and Supply Hassan Khedr, on the other hand, said that the ban, put in place on 27 November for an initial period of four weeks, will not affect the market. He went on to assure consumers that a meat shortage is unlikely to occur since imported meat only accounts for 25 per cent of local consumption.
Khedr recommended that importers make arrangements with beef producers in countries such as Australia and the United States.
Nevertheless, Ibrahim Swidan, chairman of the Port Said Modern Trade Development company and a foodstuff trader, believes that the ban will have an impact on the local market. Swidan said that sales of imported meat are expected to decline because of a lack of consumer confidence in procedures being taken to ensure that imports do not violate the ban.
Predicting the impact on prices of locally produced meat is difficult given that foreign beef -- usually imported in frozen form -- is sold at lower prices than locally produced meat.
Consequently, the Food Commodities Council affiliated with the Ministry of Internal Trade and Supply has recommended that Egypt enter into agreements with countries not affected by the ban to facilitate the import of beef.
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