Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 February 2001 Issue No.522
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue | Previous issue | Site map

Milk truce

Omar El-Damaty, chairman of Domty Company for Milk Products and head of the Milk Industry Development Association.

Egyptian dairy producers and manufacturers have reached a government-engineered compromise fixing the price of milk according to a formula that takes into consideration market changes, imported milk prices and fluctuations in the dollar. The intention is that milk producers will be made more competitive, enabling them to secure a bigger share of the local market.

The head-on battle between local milk producers and the dairy processing industry over the 45 per cent tariff on imported powdered milk levied by the government to protect local producers will now, hopefully, be resolved.

As part of the deal the Ministry of Agriculture will set up a Milk Board to facilitate communication between local milk producers and that section of the food processing industry that relies heavily on milk products. The tariff on imported powdered milk has been cancelled, and the board has been entrusted with the task of guaranteeing the rights of both sides.

In addition to protecting the milk industry and encouraging livestock development, the board's objective is to ensure that both farmers and manufacturers agree on milk prices. Representatives from both the producers and manufacturers will be represented on the board.

Egyptian milk producers have been helped by increases in the cost of imported powdered milk following the removal of subsidies on exports as demanded by WTO regulations.

Now the issue of tariffs has been dealt with, we must focus on developing the milk industry and increasing production to cover the gap between supply and demand. Egypt's per capita dairy consumption is between 45 and 50 kilogrammes annually -- almost half the minimum figure set by the World Health Organisation.

 

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