‘Chicken export to resume’

Don’t rush: Consumers are advised to refrain from panic buying to keep prices affordable.

PETALING JAYA: Several measures, including resuming the export of chicken, will be enforced once the prices of eggs and chicken are floated from July 1, says Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.

“Following the termination of subsidies after June 30, the ministry will be able to assess and control the prices of goods in relation to the retail ceiling price.

“To ensure the supply of chicken and eggs is stabilised after the subsidies are terminated, the ministry will implement a soft landing mechanism,” he said in a written reply to a question from Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah).

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Mas Ermieyatie had asked the ministry whether it had conducted any studies prior to the decision to remove the poultry subsidies.

Mohamad Sabu also noted the government had decided to lift the ban on the export of chicken to enable farmers to earn an income and to enable cash flow into Malaysia.

Poultry producers will be able to export live chickens, dressed chickens and chicken parts except “day-old chicks”.

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The government will allow the import of chicken from recognised source countries such as Thailand, China, Brazil and Denmark.

“As for egg imports, the permitted source countries are Thailand and Ukraine,” said Mohamad Sabu.

The government will continue with the Farmers’ Organisation Authority’s dressed chicken stockpiling programme as well as the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority’s (Fama) Madani agro sales plan to sell agricultural products at between 5% and 10% below market prices to target groups.

“As of May 8, 2023, a total of 28,078,620 eggs have been distributed through 369 Fama outlets,” he said.

The previous government had tried to scrap subsidies on July 1, last year. However, the Cabinet had decided to raise slightly the ceiling price for chicken and eggs.

Poultry producers have been under pressure over the last two years due to the increase in feed costs primarily due to supply issues following the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the Ukraine-Russian conflict.

The government allocated RM369.5mil for poultry subsidies last year.