SANA'A July 20. 2024 (Saba) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, represented by the General Directorate of Animal Health and Veterinary Quarantine, organized on Saturday a press conference on the repeated violation of veterinary quarantine and the entry of shipments of imported frozen chicken in violation of the law and without undergoing laboratory tests.

At the conference, which was attended by the Ministry's Undersecretary for the Services Sector, Dhaif Allah Shamlan and Agricultural Production Development, Eng. Samir Al-Hanani, and the Secretary-General of the Yemeni General Federation of Poultry Sector Unions, Murad Al-Zailai, the Director of Animal Health and Veterinary Quarantine, Dr. Ahmed Al-Qadri, pointed to the repeated entry of large quantities of frozen chicken shipments that violate the import conditions and do not have prior import permits.

"At a time when the Ministry of Agriculture, represented by the agricultural services and agricultural production sectors, and in accordance with the directions of the revolutionary leadership, seeks to replace the imported local poultry product with the aim of reaching self-sufficiency, and under the mechanism of transformation of production signed by importers of frozen chicken directed by the President of the Supreme Political Council in support of the national economy, quantities of frozen chicken shipments have been repeatedly introduced in violation and do not meet the import conditions," he said in a statement.

The statement pointed out that the Law on the Organization and Protection of Livestock and its executive regulations stipulate Article (20) of it prohibits the import, export or transit of animal consignments unless they have obtained prior written permission from the competent authority, as well as Article (22), which stipulates that all animal consignments are subject to examination and inspection, and Article (26), which stipulates that no official authority other than the competent authority has the right to allow the entry, exit or transit of any consignment to and from the territory of the Republic, no matter what. They were the reasons and justifications.

"Immune from the competent authorities in the ministry and without being subject to any legal or technical quarantine procedures such as health care and laboratory examination in order to ensure their safety and freedom from any pathogens or epidemics that threaten health security in the country, both human and animal, and before trading them in the markets, a number of importers of frozen chicken disposed of these violating shipments and unloaded them to the markets without laboratory tests by the competent authority," the statement added.

The statement stressed that the quantities that were disposed of and lowered to the market amounted to six thousand and 831 tons, equivalent to six million and 831 thousand chickens, which endangers the health of the consumer, especially in light of the current conditions that the country suffers from systematic and deliberate targeting by enemies.

The statement pointed out that the large quantities of frozen chicken shipments caused flooding of the local market and significant and direct damage to small, breeders and producers of local poultry and incurred heavy losses amounting to at least 36 billion riyals.

The statement called on the authorities that have been officially addressed with many memoranda since the beginning of these violations to assume their responsibility, not to be complacent, to stop the violating violations, to abide by the laws in force, and to realize the dangers that directly threaten the health, food and economic security of the country.

It also called on government and judicial authorities not to be lenient in procedures for the release of violating shipments and to respect sadistic animal and plant quarantine laws, which are the first line of defense to protect the country from any dangers that threaten it.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation held any party involved in the release of violations and violations of the competent authorities in the ministry fully responsible for the legal, health and economic consequences of these violations and violations.

The conference was attended by the representative of the Cooperative Association of Poultry Producers, Abdul Ghani Al-Sanabani, and a number of representatives of poultry producers associations and specialists in the Ministry of Agriculture.

E.M

resource : Saba