Saudi Arabia announced a complete suspension of poultry meat and table egg imports from 40 countries, including India, as a precaution against bird flu and other animal diseases, local media reported.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) issued the decision in its latest update. The restrictions aim to safeguard public health and maintain food safety standards in the domestic market.
However, Indian domestic industry players said the ban on imports will not have any impact on India as Saudi Arabia accounts for a very small quantity of total poultry product exports from India.
“The total exports of eggs per day to Middle East countries from India is only 10 million, mostly from Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. The ban on egg exports from India by Saudi Arabia will not have much impact on the Indian poultry market as the export to Saudi Arabia is not much and secondly our local consumption and demand is increasing,” Ricky Thaper, joint secretary, Poultry Federation of India, told Business Standard.
Thaper said the Indian poultry sector is a $30 billion industry and employs 6 million people directly or indirectly.
The broiler (meat purpose) population is 5.5 billion annually in placement, and the layer (for eggs) population is 350 million. In addition, there are 40 million backyard poultry in India.
India is the second-largest producer of eggs in the world with an annual production of 142.6 billion eggs. The per capita consumption is 106 eggs per person per year and the Indian poultry sector is growing 7–8 per cent per annum.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority, meanwhile, said the move is part of ongoing efforts to monitor global disease outbreaks.
It added that the list of affected countries is reviewed regularly based on international health developments, the news report said.
The authority noted that some countries have faced restrictions since 2004, while others were added later following risk assessments and global reports of animal disease outbreaks, especially highly pathogenic avian influenza.
40 countries under total ban
The full ban applies to imports from India and 39 other countries. These include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Djibouti, South Africa, China, Iraq, Ghana, Palestine, Vietnam, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, South Korea, North Korea, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Japan, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Serbia, Slovenia, Ivory Coast and Montenegro.
In addition to the complete ban, Saudi authorities have imposed partial restrictions on specific regions in 16 countries. These are Australia, the United States, Italy, Belgium, Bhutan, Poland, Togo, Denmark, Romania, Zimbabwe, France, the Philippines, Canada, Malaysia, Austria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The partial ban applies only to certain provinces or cities in these countries and does not cover nationwide imports.
Exemption for processed products
The SFDA, however, clarified that the suspension does not apply to poultry and related products that have undergone heat treatment or other approved processing methods capable of eliminating viruses such as bird flu or Newcastle disease.
However, such products must meet strict conditions. They must: fully comply with approved health standards and specifications; be accompanied by an official health certificate; have certification issued by the competent authority in the exporting country; confirm that the heat treatment or processing eliminates bird flu or Newcastle disease viruses; and originate from an approved production facility.
 "Saudi Arabia bans poultry imports from 40 nations; India sees no big impact")
