Israel increases livestock imports by 51%
Israel has increased its livestock imports for the first quarter of the year. 207,214 calves and lambs arrived at the country’s ports, a number substantially larger than the period January-March of 2020 (136,983 animals). Last year, a total of 601,741 animals arrived in Israel on live shipments, 90,000 less than in 2019, which stands for a historical record in livestock imports.
Israel is the fourth-biggest beef and veal consumer in the OECD, after Brazil, the US and Argentina, with annual per capita beef consumption in 2018 standing at 20.5 kilograms and totaling 137,000 tonnes.
The figures in live animal imports are stirring protests from activists, such as the animal rights organization Animals Now. “The dizzying increase in the number of live shipments proves that the minister of agriculture shows contempt for the state comptroller and the Israeli public. While 86% of Israelis support legislation to stop live shipments, the Agriculture Ministry is taking advantage of the political situation. By 2021 live shipments should already have been history,” the organization said in a statement, quoted by the Times of Israel newspaper.
The Economy Ministry has gradually increased quotas for duty-free imports of chilled meat. Last year, permits were given to import more than than 21,000 tons of it — 17,500 tons under duty-free import quotas and the rest according to bilateral agreements. Nevertheless, this is just a small drop in the "ocean" of meat consumption in the country. The market for the shipping, fattening and slaughter in the country is controlled by two companies: Tnuva and Dabbach.
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