The Government has temporarily lifted the restrictions on chicken imports to meet local demand. Agriculture Minister, Zulficar Mustapha, confirmed to News Source that the ban has been temporarily lifted following a request by local chicken producers.

He said the importation of chicken will be allowed for the next few weeks as requested by the producers, as they are expected to be able to meet the local demand within the next 4 to 6 weeks.

Poultry producers met last week with the Agriculture Ministry and explained that there is a growing demand for chicken and local producers are unable to meet the demand at this time. News Source understands that other stakeholders in the poultry industry were consulted before the decision was made on easing the chicken importation ban.

The Government has been seeking to assist local poultry producers in increasing their production by introducing a number of initiatives and programmes to encourage the establishment of more poultry farms.

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