23 August 2015
A government official said more time was needed to allow for fair competition before government subsidies on meat are lifted.

MANAMA- The lifting of government subsidies on meat will allow more importers to enter the Bahraini market but new companies will find it difficult to compete with Bahrain Livestock Company (BLC), which dominates the market, a government official said.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Isa al-Khalifa, the undersecretary of agricultural and marine resources at the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, told Zawya that there was not enough land available to build new slaughterhouses or other facilities available to the main abattoir and livestock importer BLC, and said that the market needed more time to prepare for the removal of subsidies, which is due to go into effect as of September 1.

"The market is not prepared to deal with competition after the lifting of meat subsidies because only one company has all the resources, while others do not. This will create an unfair environment for competition," the undersecretary said.

Industry and Commerce Minister Zayed bin Rashed al-Zayani has said the ministry would take measures to prevent a market monopoly. He said in a statement issued earlier this month on the state news agency BNA, following a meeting with the BLC Chairman Ibrahim Zainal, that there were currently 70 licensed commercial registers and that hundreds of other licensed registers who engage in selling foodstuff would be able to import live and chilled meat.

BNA quoted Zainal as saying that BLC was ready to cooperate with other companies "to facilitate the slaughtering process according to local regulations".

The sharp drop in oil prices has led Bahrain and other Gulf Arab state to review their costly subsidies system for goods and services such as fuel, electricity and some foodstuff. Bahrain said it would remove subsidies on meat starting September, but that Bahraini citizens would be compensated for higher meat prices by receiving cash payments.

Bahrain's cabinet approved in May a draft budget that forecasts a deficit of BHD 1.47 billion (USD 3.9 billion) in 2015 and BHD 1.56 billion in 2016, from an originally planned BHD 914 million last year, according to a Reuters report.

© Zawya 2015