Within the framework of putting the development strategies of the Ministry of the Business and Trade into practice, and which aim to ensure the flow of the basic food commodities in quantities and prices that suit the size of the domestic market and support the economic and financial situation of the consumer, the Ministry of Business and Trade, in coordination with the relevant official bodies and Qatar Company for Meat & Livestock Trading (Mawashi) launched an initiative to supply markets with more stocks of sheep during the holy month of Ramadan.
This initiative comes amid the current global economic conditions that affect the Livestock Market, and out of the role of the Ministry of the Business and Trade to monitor the global changes that prevent the flow of goods, taking into consideration the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) report on the Food Prices Forecast for June 2011 which stated that a rise of 38% was monitored on the Livestock Prices Index during the period between May 2010 and May 2011.
The report summarized the reasons of this rise as follows :
1 – High grain prices, which limited the profitability of the sector
2 – Adverse weather conditions in late 2010
3 – Drop of the rate of rebuilding herds
4 – Animal Diseases
5 – High input costs
6 – strong recovery of demand
Based on the strong demand of this item during the month of Ramadan in the Middle East, the detailed initiative of the Ministry of Business and Trade was applied a week before the holy month of Ramadan (dated 23/07/2011), and twenty thousand head of Arabic sheep were put to be sold to consumers at 800 QR , and Syrian and Jordanian meat locally slaughtered were provided to butcheries operating in the country to be sold at 42 QR per kilo for the Syrian sheep, and 46 riyals per kilo for the Jordanian one.
In order to ensure the smooth access of this vital commodity to the consumer and to avoid it from being stored or re-sold, a coordination with the relevant authorities for immediate slaughter was made in slaughterhouses in Doha, Al Khor and Al Shamal.
Over twelve days (from 23 / 7 to 3 / 8) 11,037 head of sheep were sold and 1,587 head were slaughtered and provided to the butcheries with a total of 12,624 at a rate of 1,052 sheep per day. Based on the rate of the current consumption and the strong demand for the stocks of sheep, it was decided to add 10,000 head of Arab sheep, a 50% increase to bring the total to 30,000 heads.
HE Minister of Business and Trade Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al Thani said this initiative seeks to maintain the purchasing power of households, pointing out that the rise in global prices of food commodities and their fluctuations were the major cause behind the decline in consumption and in family savings, a matter which hinders the continued strength of economic growth in other consumer sectors.
Director of Consumer Protection at the Ministry Sheikh Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani pointed out that there was an abundance of meat inside and outside of the initiative, adding that efforts of coordination will be continued to ensure permanent success of the initiative and to highlight the role of the ministry in preserving consumer rights stipulated by law No. (8) of 2008 on consumer protection, as well as to supply enough meat to meet the high demand on meat during the holy month of Ramadan as well as reduce the additional costs during this month.