Goat exports: Saudi officials still awaited

Sat, 10 Feb 2018 10:55:09 +0000

By MAILESI BANDA

GOVERNMENT is still waiting for a delegation from Saudi Arabia to discuss whether the goats Zambia will export to that country will be processed or live.

Minister of livestock and Fisheries, Michael Katambo said the delegation from Saudi Arabia will meet with the task force on the exports of goats to Saudi Arabia and beyond and discuss the way forward for the project.

The minister was speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday.

Mr. Katambo said once the two parties met they would be able to agree on prices for either meat or live goats.

“We are waiting for Saudi officials to come into the country and inspect the quarantine facilities that have been put in place and to discuss with the task force team the modalities we need to put in place on order for us to trade with that country,” he said.

He further said through the discussion the farmers would be informed on how they would sell their goats, adding Saudi Arabia being a Muslim community, there was a way in which they process their meat in accordance their traditions and beliefs – known as Halal – which refers to what is lawful in traditional Islamic law.

“We are dealing with a Muslim community whether they want the halal way of slaughtering meat or we export to them live we are still waiting for them to communicate,” he said.

Mr. Katambo also explained that the task force and the delegation from the Saudi market would also discuss issues to do with disease management and control.

And commenting of the livestock census the minister said the Central Statistics Office would soon start the compilation of the data collected by field workers.

He said most of the field officers had so far finished compiling their regional totals and that once the data reached CSO the nation would be informed on the livestock the country has.

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