Poultry producers appeal for help to stop smuggling of eggs from Syria

The Lebanese Syndicate of Poultry Producers and the Syndicate of Poultry Farmers in Baalbak - Hermel held yesterday a joint press conference in which they appealed for urgent support of some 300 producers whose livelihoods are threatened by smuggled Syrian produce across the Beqaa borders at the point of Hermel - Qusayr. According to An Nahar newspaper, nearly 800 boxes of eggs are entered illegally every day via the town of Hosh Sayyed Ali in Hermel, resulting in the fall of prices of domestic produce to below the cost of production. The newspaper reported that the selling price of one 12-box pack of eggs dropped to $18 only to rise again to $22 with the improvement of the Syrian currency exchange rate. In this respect, chief of the Syndicate of Poultry Producers, Musa Freiji, disclosed in his statement that the list of names of egg smugglers was conveyed to the Finance Minister. Furthermore, Freiji also pointed out to the crisis in the Lebanese poultry sector as a result of the halt of all export activity because of the war in Syria. He noted that quantities smuggled into Lebanon from Syria make up about one quarter of the daily Lebanese production. “What is worse,” he said is the competition that we are now facing in Iraq from Ukraine poultry products which have effectively replaced previous Lebanese exports to that country. He also expressed concerns over the harmful impact of smuggling on the health of citizens since the smuggled products carry no information as to their source or expiry dates. (An Nahar, 8 May 2015)