Egypt is largely self-sufficient in broiler-meat production, which explains the local industry’s outrage at a government decision to allow imports of large quantities of frozen poultry meat. According to the government, the imported whole birds, thighs and breasts would be sold at discounted prices through the country’s state-run retail network with the aim to curb food prices during Ramadan.
Compiled by Charmain Lines
In its response, Egypt’s Poultry Union stated that recently rising poultry prices were not driven by supply shortages, but rather by broader macroeconomic factors, including fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound.
“Egypt is not only meeting its domestic demand for poultry meat, but also has a surplus that allows for exports,” said the Union’s vice president Tharwat Ei-Zeiny. “There is no meaning, no logic, behind allowing poultry imports that could undermine the sector’s stability.”
Several local businesses registered concerns over the imported meat – likely to come from Brazil and the EU – not produced in accordance with Islamic traditions. Electrical stunning or gas methods, which are used by many exporting countries, do not comply with halal slaughter standards.
Egypt has largely banned poultry meat imports since the 1980s in an effort to protect the domestic industry.
Source: Poultry Bulletin (Issue 31) April/May 2026
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