Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza on Wednesday said the government planned to supply the local market with 11,000 heads of cattle imported from Ethiopia and Djibouti. One kilo of meat, he explained, would sell locally for LE30 in order to compel local meat producers to lower retail prices. "We sent a veterinary committee to inspect 6000 heads of cattle in Ethiopia and another to inspect 5000 heads of cattle in Djibouti before they were shipped to Egypt," Abaza said. "The cattle will arrive in weekly batches of 2000 to be slaughtered and sold as fresh meat." Responding to rumors that imported Indian meat contained a potentially dangerous form of worm, India's ambassador to Egypt met with local meat importers to assure them that Indian meat met all necessary health standards. "India exports meat to 60 different countries around the world in accordance with international standards," he said. Alaa Radwan, head of the Egyptian Meat Importers Association, said that importers had also met with the Paraguayan ambassador with a view towards boosting imports from that country in hopes of diversifying Egypt's sources of meat. In a related development, a group was recently established on social-networking website Facebook urging citizens to refrain from purchasing meat until local retail prices were reduced. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
