RIYADH, 14 August — France has protested the Kingdom’s ban on European poultry imports, saying it will negatively affect trade relations.
The protest was contained in a letter sent by the French government to Commerce Minister Osama Faqeeh yesterday. It urged the Saudi government to reconsider the ban which was imposed following reports that European chicken contained artificial hormones.
Paris urged the Saudi authorities to exempt French poultry exports from the ban, claiming that “French chickens are free from hormones and are safe as they are produced according to international standards.” The letter asked the Saudi government to find a quick solution to the problem through negotiations.
The French move comes following the Commerce Ministry’s directive to withdraw all European chicken from the local market and cold storages. An estimated 150,000 tons of European chicken are in Saudi stores. French Ambassador Bernard Poletti earlier urged the commerce minister to review the Saudi ban on French poultry resulting from a blanket embargo on EU poultry and soft drinks.
France exports chicken worth more than $100 million to the Kingdom annually. “Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to have banned French poultry as a result of the ban on EU poultry and soft drinks,” a French Embassy official said. He said the French Embassy had received a letter from the Doux Group, a major poultry exporter to the Kingdom, confirming that the use of MPA hormones in poultry feed which led to the Saudi ban is “totally forbidden in the European Union. The Doux Group formally certifies and guarantees the absence of these hormones in all of its feed. Moreover, the group owns and operates its own feed mills and produces 100 percent of its requirements, allowing it to guarantee total traceability of all ingredients used in the manufacturing process.”
The Commerce Ministry imposed the ban on European chicken in its bid to protect the health of Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom. The ban applied to all consignments of chicken originating in Europe, whether they arrived at Saudi ports before or after the decision. The ministry has already instructed exporters not to send their products to any of the Kingdom’s ports.
There are conflicting reports about the volume of European chicken confiscated at Saudi ports. According to one report, about 280 tons of chicken imported from Europe have been confiscated at King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam and the Jeddah Islamic Port.
Prices of imported chicken in the local market went up by 17 percent after the ban. After a tour of the poultry market in Riyadh on Friday, Arab News found that the prices of Brazilian chicken had gone up from SR44 to SR52 per carton for 900 gram chicken and from SR48 to SR57 per carton (1,000 grams) and from SR59 to SR68 (1,200 grams).
French exports to the Kingdom stood at 412 million euros in the first quarter of this year — up 10 percent over the same period last year. French exports were valued at 1.5 billion euros while its imports from the Kingdom were at 2.4 billion euros. The major items of French export were dairy, poultry, computer equipment, pharmaceuticals, perfumery and barley. Together, they constituted 30 percent of total French exports. Oil and petrochemicals were the Kingdom’s principal exports to France.
