JEDDAH, 17 May — Saudi poultry farmers have called on the authorities to prevent the dumping of subsidized foreign products in the local market and thus to protect their industry from possible heavy losses.
They said dumping was against the principles set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) which calls for preventing imports from competitors that are supported by government aid.
Abdul Rahman Faqeeh, chairman of Faqeeh Group, urged the Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture to take immediate steps to prevent the dumping in the local poultry market by producers from France and Brazil who, he added, were supported by their governments.
There are 293 poultry projects including 16 major firms in the Kingdom. They are likely to be affected by the dumping drive launched by foreign competitors, Faqeeh said.
He felt the dumping drive would cause heavy losses to the Saudi poultry industry. “This is against the government’s policy of encouraging local poultry producers and its aim to achieve self-sufficiency in this vital sector,” he said.
According to Faqeeh, annual poultry production in the Kingdom is estimated at 600,000 metric tons. An increase in production has come following the expansion of poultry farms and the construction of new ones with government support.
Faqeeh alleged that European and South American countries were not following the WTO principle of scaling down government subsidies prior to lifting them.
“Those who call for globalization are not actually practicing it,” Faqeeh said in a press statement.
He pointed out that France was exporting what was left of its poultry to Saudi Arabia after first distributing it among different countries including Russia, East European and African states.
Faqeeh also alleged that the chicken products exported to the Kingdom by some European and American countries did not comply with the country’s quality standards.
“The level of water content in imported chicken from France and Brazil is 13 percent against the permitted level of five percent,” he said, adding that the water content in locally produced chicken did not exceed three percent.
“France, Brazil and other countries produce special meat for export to the Middle East and these products differ from what they export to EU countries,” he pointed out.
