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Saudi Arabia Mulls Lifting Ban on Imports of Sudanese Meat
Saudi Arabia is considering the possibility of lifting ban on imports of livestock products from Sudan, the Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported on Wednesday.
Kamal Taha, a diplomat in the Sudanese embassy in Riyadh, told Kuna that a Saudi delegation, including experts and officials from trade and agriculture ministries, will head to Sudan at the end of August.
The Saudi specialists will visit slaughterhouses, livestock farms and meat factories to make sure that the meat products are healthy and free of any animal diseases, Taha added.
He said that livestock exporters and the meat industry in Sudan have suffered "huge losses" due to a Saudi ban on the imports of livestock products from the African country since last February.
He stressed that the embargo has seriously affected Sudanese revenues because 80 percent of Sudanese meat exports goes to Saudi market.
He quoted a report issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying that Sudanese cattle are free of diseases.
Some Arab and European countries are still importing livestock products from his country, so do some Gulf states, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, he said.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily imposed a ban on importing all kinds of meat from some African and European countries following the spread of mad cow and foot-and-mouth diseases and the EL-Nino- induced Rift Valley Fever in many countries earlier this year.
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