Importing eggs destroys the domestic poultry sector, official says

Shafaq News/ A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday said that opening up the market for imported eggs will lead to the collapse of the poultry sector in Iraq, attributing the high prices of domestic eggs to monopoly and lack of government control.

The ministry's spokesperson, Hamid al-Nayef, told Shafaq News agency, "the rising exchange rate of the U.S. dollar shuttled the prices of feed, soybeans, and other materials used in growing chicken and producing eggs."

"the ministry agreed with poultry producers to keep the price of a package of eggs at no more than 5,000 dinars," he added.

"The missing link between the agreed upon price (5,000 dinars) and the actual market price (7,000 dinars) is the weakness of the government control on the market that prevents traders from monopoly."

"Importing eggs will result in a complete collapse of the poultry sector. What we have built in three years to develop and support this sector will collapse," he continued, "it will force poultry growers to sell their farms, lay off millions of workers, and move their farms to neighboring countries, which means going back to square number one: Importing eggs."

The market prices of eggs and poultry products soared drastically with the price of a single package of eggs jumping to 7,000 dinars, 2,000 or 3,000 dinars up the original price.