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Turkey’s meat row

Scrambling to rein in skyrocketing meat prices, the Turkish government has again resorted to imports of cheaper meat, angering producers in the country’s already shrinking husbandry sector.
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Turkey’s government has once again drawn the import weapon against the unrelenting rise of meat prices, which is the result of a combination of factors, including ongoing migration from rural to urban areas, the closure of many small husbandry enterprises, the rising costs of stockbreeding and misguided husbandry policies. The importation of meat is an easy but dangerous way to tackle the problem. Employed periodically over the past seven years, it has already proved ineffective in pulling prices down.

The government has now set a benchmark, bent on continuing the imports until the prices fall to the said level. Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Esref Fakibaba pledged in October that government efforts would lead to a 40% decrease in meat prices, which had climbed to up to 50 Turkish lira ($12.60) per kilogram. On Nov. 3, sales of cheaper imported meat began across Turkey at two supermarket chains selected by the government. The state-owned importer Meat and Milk Board (ESK) set the prices at 29 lira ($7.40) per kilogram for beef mince and 31 lira ($7.93) for veal cubes.

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