For the second year.. the government resorts to importing sheep to provide sacrifices for the “Great Eid”

For the second year in a row, the government resorted to opening the door to temporary imports of sheep, with the aim of providing sacrifices destined for slaughter on Eid al-Adha, after it resorted to this measure during the last Eid al-Adha, in light of the decline of the national herd, due to successive years of drought.

Muhammad Seddiqi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests, revealed in the oral questions session in the House of Councilors, today, Tuesday, that the request for offers for importing sheep heads destined for slaughter on Eid al-Adha has reached, so far, 600,000, indicating that “it will be completed.” “Increasing this number to one million if necessary.”

As in the previous year, importers will benefit from a grant of 500 dirhams per head, and they will also be exempt from paying customs duties and taxes.

The Minister of Agriculture’s announcement to continue supporting importers sparked criticism from parliamentary advisors. Saeed Shaker, a member of the Social Justice Group, considered that the ministry succeeded in achieving the goal of providing an adequate supply of quality sheep, but failed to achieve the goal of ensuring the provision of sacrificial animals at an affordable price.

The same advisor added that a study completed in this regard set the price of one kilogram at between 52 and 55 dirhams, meaning that the price of the sacrifice should range between 1,400 and 3,500 dirhams. “While at the application level, the price ranged between 2,000 and 8,000 dirhams, which affected the purchasing power of citizens due to monopolists, intermediaries, and importers who raised prices,” he said.

Although the total cost of the support allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture last year to importers of sheep destined for slaughter on Eid al-Adha was not disclosed, Chancellor Saeed Shaker estimated it at two billion dirhams (200 billion centimes), wondering: “What is the point of these huge sums that have been allocated to support importers if it is not The price is compatible with the purchasing power of citizens?”, considering that “the biggest loser in this case is the Moroccan citizen and the state treasury, and the biggest winner are the importers.”

For his part, Parliamentary Advisor Younis Malal, a member of the movement team, said that the first experience witnessed a number of imbalances. Such as large importers benefiting from support at the expense of small importers, adding: “We hoped that this budget allocated for support from the pockets of Moroccans would have a direct impact and impact on the price of sacrifices for ordinary citizens.”

While the Minister of Agriculture expressed the ministry’s welcome to increase the number of sacrifices that will be imported to one million, Chancellor Mellal called for the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the methods of disbursing support “with the aim of supporting the purchasing power of the simple citizen, and not to be in the interest of the import lobbies.”

In response, the Minister of Agriculture said: “There are issues on which I agree with you, and we have put in place measures to limit this that you spoke about,” adding: “Today there is trust with the professionals who carry out the import process, and we must know who is promoting such news that claims that… The support benefits only large importers.”

The same government official added that his ministry has developed a list according to which the number of heads that each importer will import is determined, unlike last year, when importers registered without carrying out the import process.

The Minister of Agriculture stated that the number of importers who have committed to importing sheep destined for slaughter on the upcoming Eid al-Adha has reached, so far, 100 importers, pointing out that the number of sheep proposed to be imported by each importer ranges between 3,000 and 20,000 heads.