In early July, Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza will issue a regulation on the President's decree last May to regulate the sale of live poultry and birds. Nabil Darwish, head of the General Federation of Poultry Producers, said the regulation allows the sale of live poultry from next month until July 2010. Shops should observe the health conditions identified by the General Organization for Veterinary services and obtain a license from the governorates. In 2011, the sale of live poultry will be banned.
Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Darwish said any vehicle carrying live poultry should have a health certificate proving that the birds are not infected with any diseases. Traffic policemen take "bribes" from the breeders of birds to allow them to transfer birds from a governorate to another. The new decision solved this problem, Darwish said, stressing the importance of establishing a fund to compensate the breeders. The new regulation bans the transfer of live birds in five governorates, namely Cairo, Giza, Ismailia, Alexandria and Sharqia, because they have enough number of slaughterhouses.
The regulation gives graces to the governorates before banning the sale of live birds under a decree from the Minister of Agriculture. Abattoirs slaughter some two million birds a day, Darwish added.
