ANKARA: Turkey has opened a tender to import 100,000 heads of cattle, the biggest tender of its kind for the country, within the scope of a program to buy 400,000 units from abroad in a bid to maintain meat prices and meet the livestock demand across the country. Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Faruk Çelik said the collection of the bids to import 100,000 heads of cattle had started as of July 4 in a meeting.
According to a cabinet decision in May, customs-free quotas have been defined to import 150,000 heads of animals for breeding, 20,000 heads of small cattle and 400,000 heads of other livestock for the use of the General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises (TİGEM) and the Meat and Milk Board (ESK).
“The ESK has the authority to import 400,000 heads of customs-free heads of livestock in line with the cabinet decision. The authority has opened a tender to import 100,000 heads of livestock as of July 4. We will take the bids and realize the acquisition by choosing the best offer in accordance with the tender specifications,” said Çelik on July 12, as quoted by Reuters.
According to official data, Turkey produced 1.15 million tons of red meat in 2015. The animals will be brought from authorized foreign countries as determined by the ministry. Some half of the imports will be made from European Union countries and the remaining from the Americas, daily Dünya reported. The importers will have a total of 65 days to carry their livestock from the Americas to Turkey’s ports, mainly in the provinces of Kocaeli, Tekirdağ, İzmir, Mersin, Trabzon and Samsun, according to the report.
The importers will have a total of 50 days to carry the livestock from the EU. They will use the Kapıkule Customs area in the northwestern province of Edirne, it added. The preferred breeds are Angus, Brangus, Brown Swiss, Charolais and Hereford. Other breeds may be acceptable, but would need to be suggested and discussed with the authorities, according to the tender specifications.
Any real or legal persons can bid as long as they have the required authorizations and licenses. After meat prices in Turkey began spiraling upward last year, the state-run ESK imported high amounts of meat amid promises of further purchases, despite reaction from private businesses. The country faced a dramatic meat crisis in 2010, leading to customs-free meat and livestock imports. The imports were temporarily halted in 2013, and restarted in a controlled manner in 2014.
