Lebanese poultry farmers oppose Iraqi decision to ban frozen poultry imports

The president of the Lebanese Poultry Union, William Boutros, has called on Lebanese authorities to take action to protect the sector, following the recent limitations or bans on imports of frozen poultry and other processed poultry products by several Arab countries, most notably Iraq, according to a statement published by the National News Agency.

"Most Arab countries ban imports of processed Lebanese poultry products to their markets in order to protect their local production. Recently, Iraq made a similar decision, even though we used to export these products to its market," Boutros said.

"The situation is problematic," he stressed, noting that not only does Lebanon import processed poultry from various countries around the world, but these products are also exempt from customs duties when they come from Arab countries.

In fact, imports of poultry from the Arab Free Trade Area are exempt in Lebanon, according to a source at the Directorate General of the Economy and Trade Ministry.

The union is asking the authorities to "treat Arab countries reciprocally, and therefore to quickly reactivate import licenses for these products, pending the implementation of customs duties," in order to protect the sector, which he says is threatened with extinction.

The Iraqi government announced on Sept. 8 its decision to suspend imports of frozen poultry and other processed poultry products in order to protect local production "against unfair competition from imported products," according to the statement released at the time.

The ban includes "frozen whole chicken, its pieces and processed poultry products, in order to protect local production against unfair competition from imported products."

The decision will take effect 45 days after its publication, around mid-October.

Other Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have banned all imports of Lebanese products due to diplomatic tensions related to Iran and Hezbollah, which was producing and exporting Captagon to the kingdom. Despite warming relations between Beirut and Riyadh, this ban has not yet been lifted.