RAMALLAH, West Bank — Poultry farmers in the West Bank are suffering heavy financial losses as chickens smuggled in from Israel and Israeli settlements have sent prices plummeting far below what it costs West Bank farmers to raise the birds.
On Nov. 19, customs officials in Hebron in the southern West Bank seized 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) of live chickens and 660 kilograms (1,455 pounds) of slaughtered chickens unsuitable for human consumption. On Nov. 15, the administration confiscated 1.5 metric tons (about 3,300 pounds) of live chickens in the city.
The thriving black market has pushed Palestinian authorities to take action. The Central Committee Against Smuggling of Poultry and Agricultural Products — a government body headed by the Ministry of Agriculture — decided Nov. 16 to form a joint operations team to prosecute smugglers in different provinces. The members of this body include the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of National Economy, the Customs Administration and various state security services.
“The joint operations team aims to chase smugglers and support the poultry sector, which has been on the verge of collapse due to heavy losses caused by the large quantities of poultry products smuggled from Israel and the settlements," Ibrahim al-Qadi, the Economy Ministry's consumer protection director, told Al-Monitor.
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