Syrian Minister of Agriculture: A study to re-import chickens while raising customs duties

Syrian Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Basil Al-Suwaidan, said, during a meeting held in the Damascus Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday, that the study of re-permitting the import of broilers began a few days ago, provided that the step would be accompanied by raising customs duties.

He explained that raising duties in the event of re-importation aims to protect the local product, in parallel with securing the market need and avoiding a shortage in the quantities supplied.

Al-Suwaidan tried to put his finger on the shortcomings, pointing out that the main problem in the poultry sector is the state of “total chaos” it suffers from, which is that most small poultry farms operate without a license and adopt primitive production methods instead of modern technologies, which weakens their ability to compete.

He added that the absence of accurate data on the poultry sector hinders decision-making related to it, noting that the ministry holds periodic meetings with the Import and Export Committee to discuss the sector’s conditions.

Al-Suwaidan pointed out that poultry breeders were unable to cover the local market’s need for broiler meat after stopping imports, noting that the Ministry is working to calculate the costs of producing broilers in Jordan and Turkey and compare them with the costs of producing them in Syria, provided that the results of the comparison will be based on determining the value of customs duties in the event of a decision to re-allow imports.