Poultry dealers angry with ban

MALAWI - The Poultry Association of Malawi has expressed disappointment over the ban by the Ministry of Trade and Private Sector Development on importation of all poultry products into the country.

The association said the move will result in the country running out of chicken meat in the next six months.

The Association’s Chairman Alex Stewart, who is also Managing Director of Charles Stewart Day Old Chicks, said in an interview that government should have consulted them before imposing the ban which, he said, will see a lot of aspects being affected.

“The ban was not done in the way it should have been done. We feel as a company and also as an industry the ban should have affected only the countries that have bird flu. There is no point in banning products from Zimbabwe which has no bird flu,” he said.

Stewart said the poultry industry imports breeding stock from abroad which helps it to sustain the current growing stock on the market and this, he said, is supposed to be imported every four to five weeks.

“We don’t mind banning of table eggs, dressed chickens or live birds but they should not have just banned everything in general. We need the breeding stock. We don’t know why they can’t have a targeted ban like other countries,” he said.

Stewart said the decision will affect the availability of chickens on the market in the next six months since the stock used for breeding the chickens is imported.

On Tuesday last week, the Ministry of Trade and Private Sector Development announced that following reports of the spread of bird flu, the importation of all poultry products should be suspended.

The statement indicated that live chickens, day old chicks and table and fertilised eggs from all sources should be banned with immediate effect.

Source: Nation Online
calendar icon 6 March 2006
clock icon 1 minute read
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