Tehran, Iran, July 12
By A. Shirazi - Trend:
A restriction recently imposed by the Iranian government on the import of meat has been lifted following negotiations among the country’s officials, a report said.
In a meeting chaired by Iranian deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, Hassan Younes Sinaki, members of a committee tasked with controlling market prices decided to resume the import of red meat to the country, IRNA news agency reported.
The price of the red meat in Iran’s market is expected to drop following the decision as the government will allocate the US dollar at a rate of 38,000 rials to its import.
In a bid to support the domestic market and improve livestock breeds, the government recently put a temporary ban on the import of meat.
About 820,000 tons of red meat, accounting for 90 percent of the domestic demand, are produced in Iran every year. Annual imports stand at about 100,000 tons.
Iran imports beef mainly from Brazil and lamb from Australia, Armenia, Georgia, Dagestan, Mongolia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
The steep prices came after the Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the US dollar on the unofficial market amid fears of returning US sanctions after President Donald Trump in May withdrew from a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
In an effort to halt the slide control the prices, Iranian authorities announced in April they were unifying the dollar’s official and black market exchange rates at a single level of 42,000, and banning any trade at other rates under the threat of arrest.