PM: Govt to stop exporting 3.6 mil chickens per month starting from June 1

PUTRAJAYA – The government will stop the monthly export of 3.6 million chickens effective on June 1.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the move would take effect until the price and supply of chickens stabilised.

“The cabinet also agreed to take the approach to create buffer stocks for chickens and to optimise the existing cold room storage facilities owned by Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (MAFI) along with its agencies,” he said in a statement today.

He said the recent abolition of approved permit (AP) for chicken, including whole chicken and cut pieces, was meant to increase exporters’ chance and involvement in providing more supplies.

“As a short-term measure, the meeting decided to simplify the subsidy claim process by chicken suppliers, apart from increasing and recognising foreign slaughterhouse and processing plants to increase production supply,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said the government took the issue of the price hike and issues in chicken supply seriously.

“The government regrets (the action) and is disappointed over several companies that stopped supplying chickens, causing the price to surge and shortage in the market,” he said.

With the subsidy worth RM729.43 million under the Keluarga Malaysia Price Control Scheme implemented on February 5, Ismail Sabri said the ceiling price for a standard-sized chicken was RM8.90 per bird.

“However, the government has found that several large companies were not interested in applying for the subsidy and wanted the chicken price to be controlled by the market,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said that only RM50 million subsidies were paid out to poultry owners, with most of them being small companies.