KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) should allow more establishments to export halal poultry meat into the Malaysian market, says the Asean-China Economic Trade and Promotion Association (ACETP).
Its chairman, Datuk Ng Kek Kiong, said only one Chinese establishment was currently allowed to export poultry meat into the market.
“This has resulted in a monopoly in the China-imported poultry market, which is harmful to the end consumers due to the lack of competition,” he said in a statement yesterday.
ACETP said it had received several complaints from foreign corporations on the delay in finalising the meat export applications since 2015.
It said foreign corporations and their local partners also expressed frustrations on the unwillingness of the MOA and the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to facilitate the application process.
“According to our source, there are eight applicants from China which have fulfilled the preliminary audit requirements since 2015 and were scheduled to be audited by DVS. To date, they have yet to be audited due to unreasonable excuses from the MOA,” said Ng.
The association said one company had spent more than RM20 million to reconstruct its slaughter house facilities to comply with the MOA’s requirements.
“The delay in application has damaged the company’s financials and its reputation with local partners, resulting in immeasurable losses over the course of the application,” ACETP added. –Bernama
