Local consumer protection associations say they will only call off their current boycott on meat when butchers post signs in their shop windows indicating that retail meat prices had been reduced to LE40 per kilo.
“The campaign proved successful,” said Soad el-Dib, head of the Egyptian Union of Consumer Protection Associations. “Meat sales were impacted in many areas as a result of the boycott.”
Meat producers, on the other hand, say the campaign failed in its aims, blaming the government for failing to resolve the crisis. “The government doesn’t provide us with any credit facilities or services,” complained cattle breeder Mohamed el-Eraqi.
In a related development, parliament’s agricultural committee called for a draft law to regulate meat prices and safeguard the nation’s livestock resources.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
