The Minister of State for the Affairs of the Tripoli-based Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, Adel Jumaa, referred to the Ministry of Economy and Trade the letter of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock for Technical Affairs. The letter, dated February 13, 2023, included a request for approval to provide 700,000 live rams in time for the Feast (Eid) of Sacrifice.
Commenting on the matter, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Fawzi Wadi, told the Libya Herald that his ministry studied all aspects related to the import of Eid sacrifices. This included the target countries for importing sheep, the specifications that are required to be available in them, and the mechanisms of supply through companies specialized in importing livestock.
He said the matter was referred again to the Ministry of Agriculture, as it is the owner of the proposal, to take the necessary measures in this regard, and for having the appropriate mechanisms and sufficient experience in applying and implementing the necessary health standards and requirements to be available in livestock, which are in line with the legal standards for sacrifices.
Libya needs more than one million sacrificial rams
Wadi said there would be a decrease in the price of live sheep in the Libyan market if the proposed 700,000 imports arrive. These would cover a large part of the Libyan market’s need of more than one million sacrifices, which the locally reared sheep would have a role in covering with about 300,000 heads. He stressed the ability of local sheep breeders to provide much more than that.
Libyan livestock importers have sufficient experience
Wadi said there are many livestock import companies registered with the Ministry of Economy’s Commercial Register, with sufficient experience in supplying livestock and frozen meat from several countries. He said this is done in coordination with the National Centre for Animal Health. Wadi said there is a need for the facilitation of several banking procedures to open documentary credits for livestock breeders.
For its part, the Central Bank of Libya agreed to start receiving requests for importing sacrificial animals in accordance with the requirements and controls related to documentary credits and in coordination with the Ministries of Economy and Agriculture.
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