RIYADH, 29 July — With the Saudi ban on import of poultry and soft drinks from European Union states, local suppliers here anticipate an increase in imports of poultry products from Brazil, which along with EU constituted 35 percent of the Kingdom’s poultry imports.
China has also entered the market with its own poultry, while Tunisia has emerged as a new player on the soft drinks front. However, the senior executive of a well-known hypermarket said that they have not yet been notified officially about the ban by the Commerce Ministry. “I read about the ban only in your newspaper,” Edward Birmingham, operational director of Euromarche, told Arab News. He said that in the past, too, they learned about the official ban on foodstuff from the media first.
Asked about the future scenario, Birmingham said he would not rule the possibility of a price hike if the ban gets prolonged.
The local suppliers may take advantage of the situation by withholding stocks so as to jack up the prices artificially. As for sourcing products from the US and EU, he said Euromarche had stopped procurements from those countries for a long time in view of the Saudi boycott of US products and the periodic outbreak of mad cow disease in the EU region.
Birmingham described as misconceived the Saudi citizens’ boycott of Coca Cola and Pepsi. “Even though they carry American brand names, they are locally produced. This anti-American boycott could hurt the local economy,” he observed.
A source at Azizia-Panda Supermarket said the price rise, if any, would not be felt in the immediate future. Many people have left on their annual vacation, while the supermarkets have enough stocks to keep them going for four to six weeks. What happens thereafter remains to be seen.
A question being asked is how the Commerce Ministry would deal with the existing stocks of poultry and soft drinks products covered by the ban.
However, just a few days before the government ban, some brands of chocolate and dairy products now banned were being offered for sale at heavy discounts. Major supermarkets in the capital still had huge stocks of such products on the shelves. A reliable source told Arab News that inspectors from the ministry would visit the supermarkets soon and cart away the products from the shopping floor.
Speaking on phone from Al Kharj, Afzal J.Sanai, general manager of Arabian Farms, a member of the Bughshan group, said Brazil and the EU countries together constituted 35 percent of the imports of poultry products into the Kingdom. With the EU poultry products under the official ban, Brazil’s share of the market would automatically increase. He said the local suppliers are not in a position to cater for the snowballing demand. Moreover, some of them have been exporting their products to the Gulf and Southeast markets. Unless they cut back on their exports, they would not be able to fill the gap created in the market, he added.
In a related development, the economic counselor at the US Embassy has warned that the Saudi citizens’ boycott of US services and products could have a negative impact on bilateral trade, which has already suffered a setback. US exports to the Kingdom in the first two months of this year plummeted by 30 percent, while Saudi exports to that country ( mainly oil and petrochemical products) were down by 39 percent. Such an anti-American sentiment would not be in the interest of the Kingdom, which still needs overseas investment for creating job opportunities and facilitating technology transfer.
Meanwhile, Musarrat Hussain, general manager, Minhal Travel Services, has clarified that the issuance of visas to three of the 15 Saudi hijackers through US Visa Express Services reported in yesterday’s Arab News was wrongly attributed to him. Such reports were widely circulated in US newspapers, another source said.
