According to Times of Oman, the ban, which came into effect on March 27, is based on the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) norms. According to statistics from India, one-third of India’s poultry exports come to the Sultanate, which is around 20million eggs a month.

The ban is lifted only three months after the OIE declares a country free from bird flu.

The bar follows the flu’s outbreak in Odisha state of India.

“The prices of both locally produced eggs and Indian eggs, imported before the ban and stocked in the Sultanate, have gone up in the market. Earlier, if 360 (12 trays) eggs were sold for RO10, now there is an increase of RO2 on it,” an importer told Times of Oman.

Importers say that the Indian poultry products have a good demand in the Sultanate and the ban has affected their business.

“We started the import of fresh whole chicken from India two months ago. As there is a huge expatriate market, and the demand for Indian fresh chicken was high, we decided to import fresh chicken. But the ban on entire poultry products has now affected our business,” the importer added.

Whenever there is a bird flu outbreak, even in remote parts of India, egg imports from India suffer.

“Now, we have increased the import of fresh chicken from Brazil and eggs from Saudi Arabia and Holland,” the importers said.

Meanwhile, the wholesale egg prices in India have started to decline after the ban. The poultry industry is finding it difficult to clear a backlog of millions of eggs caused by the ban. Exporters from India’s egg hub, Namakkal, fear that Oman’s move may worsen the export prospects.