Market supply efforts stabilized prices of most agricultural products - Minister

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Ahmed El Bouari, said on Monday that his department’s efforts to ensure a regular market supply have contributed to overcome certain negative impacts, mainly by maintaining stable prices for the majority of agricultural products this year.

Speaking during question time at the House of Representatives, the Minister emphasized the suspension of import duties and value-added tax (VAT) on cattle, sheep, goats and camelids, as well as customs duties and VAT on red meat imports, which are measures designed to ensure fair supplies to the local market and encourage lower prices.

El Bouari also highlighted the ban on the slaughter of female bovines for breeding, in order to preserve the national herd, the exemption from customs duties on imports of day-old chicks, financial incentives for investment, such as refrigeration equipment, production units and the creation of facilities for drying poultry manure, in addition to promoting the creation of industrial slaughterhouses for poultry and units for adding value to poultry products.

He added that the measures undertaken also included the implementation of an emergency program to support seeds and seedlings for staple crops – cereals, essential vegetables, sugar beet – as well as nitrogen fertilizers, which led to a drop in market prices for staple vegetables and reduced pressure on the national livestock herd.

The Minister also added that some 167,000 head of cattle, 906,000 head of sheep and 1,724 tonnes of meat had been imported, while the quantities of laying hens and turkeys imported had increased by over 17% compared with 2024.

In this context, the Minister pointed out that the prices of several products had fallen on the markets, specifying that in comparison with January 2024, tomato prices had fallen by 8%, potato prices by 15%, onion prices by 30%, and egg prices by 6%.

A rise in red and white meat prices has also been noted, while efforts to import livestock and meat are continuing, he reported, noting that the scope of imports has been extended to more than 45 countries, with which health safety agreements have been signed, and discussions have been initiated with officials in several neighboring countries, notably in Europe, to facilitate all procedures in this area. The Minister confirmed that there had been no disruption in white meat production, pointing out that the rise in prices was attributable to “increased demand for poultry meat, to the detriment of red meat, for a large proportion of consumers.”