The goat and cattle exporter are asking for regulatory relief and market creation in domestic meat market as they are carrying a heavy burden due to export difficulties through border trade and high input costs such as feedstuff cost and labour wages. “We request the reduction of market barriers. It does not mean to reduce the Licence C fee, controlled by a municipal committee for butchery. We want the municipal to support breeding and meat production. If regulatory fees including permit fees by the Department of Livestock Breeding and Veterinary and tax costs around K5,000 per head of cattle, we can sell the boneless mutton of export quality at K10,000 per viss (a viss equals to 1.6 kg). The price, however, is not suitable for the domestic market. If there is a canned meat factory invested in the country, we can provide them as much as they want. The high-quality meat is not usually consumed in the domestic market. Consequently, the cattle and goat exporters are now waiting for the export market, while they are being burdened by feedstuff cost and other general costs.
It costs K3 million per 300 heads of cattle for ten days. Otherwise, it approximately costs K5,000 for a goat and K1,000 for an ox to feed. About 5,000-6,000 heads of cattle owned by 50 companies have been stranded in Namhkam border area of Myanmar with China since August. Some companies are hard to survive from financial hardship, U Than Tun Oo, chair of Magway Region Livestock Entrepreneurs Association stressed.
China purchased Myanmar’s live cattle and goat through border trade, and they add value in the slaughterhouses. They re-export them to other foreign markets. Despite the foreign demand, the coronavirus crisis posed transport problems in the border area, livestock entrepreneurs said.
The National-Level Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 has already issued notifications relating to standard operating procedure and transport routes for the entrepreneurs.—Thant Zin Win
(Translated by Ei Myat Mon)
