The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) is confident that the local chicken supply in the market will be stable by February 2022, its Minister Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said in Parliament.
He said that MAFI through the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) has also held engagement sessions with local poultry industry players to provide a commitment to increase production capacity in line with current demand.
He was replying to a question by MP of Sabah Bernam, Dato Haji Mohd Fasiah Bin Haji Mohd Fakeh to state to what extent the problem of shortage of chicken supply experienced in the market now and to state the extent to which the measure allows imports of frozen chicken from abroad will be able to overcome and solve the problem of shortage of supply of these chickens.
He said that the average chicken requirement in the country is 3,762 metric tons per day or 113,220 tons per month which is equivalent to 2.0 million chickens a day or 62.9 million chickens a month.
The Minister said that Poultry production in October 2021 was as much as 52.05 million chickens and the production has decreased to 51.4 million chickens in November 2021 which is a shortfall of 17.73% compared to actual needs.
Meanwhile, he said production projections of chickens in December 2021 are targeted at 61 million Chickens. ”The lack of chicken supply in the market is due to the sharp increase in demand after the reopening of the economic sector that began in October 2021,” he said.
To address the shortfall, he said that the Government has provided permission to import frozen round chicken as a measure to ensure a constant supply of chicken in the market sufficient with a stable and affordable price.
This import permit is up to 10,000 metric tons per month or the equivalent of 5.5 million chickens per month for the period December 2021 to February 2022 subject to the conditions that have been set.
The importation of these chicken supplies is only allowed from overseas abattoirs that have been certified and recognized by the Government.
He said that this intervention measure is temporary in nature until the supply of chickens can be stabilized by the local poultry industry. “MAFI will monitor these imports to ensure imports only intended to meet supply.”
On a supplementary question by the MP Of Sabah Bernam as to whether the imported frozen chicken was of quality and if it was halal and the step Government to ensure local poultry farmers are not affected and the extent to which the supply of this chicken can stabilize the retail price of chicken now that reaches more than RM 10?
In short, the importation of frozen chicken from abroad in this country is safe and halal, he said that it is made through overseas abattoirs of DVS and JAKIM.
He said that there are currently 9 plants in Thailand and 2 plants in China recognized by the Abattoir Recognition Committee for the Plant Overseas Processing.
He said that the importation of this frozen chicken is one temporary measure, and the Ministry will continue to monitor the supply of chicken in the local market.
“Once it is stable and recovering, moving on, this temporary intervention will be discontinued. It is made simply to cover the ongoing shortage of chicken supply,” he said.
