Poultry Farmers Appeal to Authorities and Citizens to Support Domestic Production

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After holding a meeting and reviewing the situation in the poultry sector, the Coordination Committee of Poultry Farmers of Bosnia and Herzegovina today issued an appeal to relevant state and entity institutions to support domestic production and thereby save at least 5,000 jobs.

Namely, despite previously submitted requests for assistance and the adoption of concrete measures, the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have not reduced levies on the production of poultry meat and eggs, nor provided additional incentives for production and job protection. On the other hand, production costs have increased due to the rise in feed prices and higher transport costs caused by changes in import-export routes following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, selling prices of poultry meat and eggs are the lowest so far, and the entire sector faces insolvency and operating at a loss.

To maintain production and the number of employees at the same level (the sector currently employs 20,000 people), the authorities are expected to help increase exports to the EU, including starting exports of table eggs, and provide financial support and incentives to preserve production and jobs.

“Product prices are the lowest in the history of this production in Bosnia and Herzegovina and are below production costs. Despite this, consumption continues to decline dangerously,” said Edin Jabandžić, Chairman of the Coordination Committee of Poultry Farmers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

„Our proposals for improving the situation have not been implemented. We have not received support in contracting new export deals, there has been no increase in production incentives, preservation of wages and jobs, nor have contributions to the state been reduced. As a result of the current situation, 5,000 workers could lose their jobs. We expect help from the state, as was done with red meat, because without state aid we cannot be competitive on foreign markets.“

Speaking about egg production, the Co-Chairman of the Coordination Committee of Poultry Farmers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Predrag Miličić, pointed out that the situation is the same as with poultry meat production, and emphasized the need to initiate activities to obtain approval for the export of table and hatching eggs to the EU market, where currently only eggs for processing can be exported. „We are not asking for a ban on imports of table eggs because in the current situation, no one has an interest in entering the BiH market. On the other hand, it is very important for us to enter the EU market with the full range of our products and thus enable their placement. The domestic market is simply not large enough for us now.“

BiH poultry farmers annually produce 540 million eggs, 65,000 tons of chicken meat, 40 million broilers, and 400,000 parent stock birds. The sector currently employs 20,000 workers, productivity is at the level of EU countries, production is controlled at all stages, and product quality is guaranteed. Production covers most of the domestic market needs, while almost 20 percent of products are exported.

In the appeal to the authorities, the Coordination Committee emphasized that an urgent response from the competent institutions is necessary to preserve the current level of production and jobs, and once again called on the BiH public to buy domestic products.