Imported eggs reduced local shortfall by millions, says minister

 

Agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said it was not feasible to stop the export of eggs.

PUTRAJAYA: Imported eggs have reduced the shortfall in supply to one million in December, compared to a shortage of 157 million eggs in November and 118 million eggs in October last year.

Agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said this was a commendable achievement.

“I reported for duty on Dec 5. After getting a briefing on the latest situation in egg supply, the top management of the ministry and I met several major egg producers to seek the best ways to restore supply.

“The data I obtained from the veterinary services department showed a critical shortage of eggs in October and November 2022. Alhamdulillah, now the supply of chicken and eggs is beginning to recover and will be stable again soon,” he said.

In December last year, the government allowed eggs to be brought in by air from India under a trial phase to ensure the imports met with all the set standards.

On calls for the government to ban the export of eggs, Mohamad said it could not be done because of the sharp increase in imported chicken feed and prolonged price controls had put pressure on local egg producers.

“They (egg producers) are very dependent on revenue from egg exports to cover losses in the local market due to price controls.”

To resolve the issue, Mohamad said his ministry had held meetings with the domestic trade and cost of living as well as finance ministries, apart from proposing that targeted subsidies be given before the price of eggs was floated again. - FMT