There is a commotion in Malaysia when the price of chicken is now soaring, around RM12 per kilogram due to the emergence of shortage of supply by traders and producers.
As a result, the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has decided to stop chicken exports from June 1 until domestic prices and production return to stability.
The decision was reached after holding discussions with the Cabinet and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) on May 23, which will see a total of 3.6 million poultry exports frozen.
Through a statement issued by Ismail Sabri, the government also reached several decisions including:
Facilitate subsidy claims to poultry producers.
Recognize slaughterhouses abroad.
Abolish the approval permit (AP) for chicken imports.
Recommend the cultivation of corn as an alternative to chicken feed.
All these decisions were made in the hope that it would succeed in increasing the production of chicken supply and in turn stabilize prices.
Meanwhile, statistics by the Federation of Malaysian Livestock Farmers Associations show that Malaysia's exports of live birds have increased from 40.19 million birds in 2007 to 59.08 million in 2020.
Apart from that, Malaysia also imported 67,770 tonnes of broiled chicken while exporting 18,320 tonnes of broiled chicken in 2020.
Malaysia is also understood to import 1/3 of Singapore's chicken supply based on data from the Singapore Food Agency.
In a separate statement, Ismail Sabri stressed that the decision reached was to give priority to the people, especially during the rising inflation rate around the world.
This is also indirectly in line with the aspirations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which urged the government to subsidize food and energy for the poorest households, amid the global food crisis.
