The Kingdom has measures in place to identify and prevent any diseased livestock from being sold on Saudi markets, according to Fahd Balghunaim, Minister of Agriculture. Addressing a press conference in Riyadh on Tuesday, Balghunaim said the ministry had sent back 53 shipments of diseased sheep last year to their country of origin. Most of these shipments came from Sudan and Djibouti. He said the Kingdom has more than 25 quarantine facilities. More will be set up in Djibouti, Sudan and Eritrea. He assured citizens that the livestock industry was in good health in the country. He said that the recent slump in prices was because of an increase in supply. He said that efforts were underway to prevent an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Kingdom. He said the ministry was in the process of employing veterinarians from Sudan and Egypt. He emphasized that the most important element in the whole process of importation was for the Kingdom to have disease-free livestock. The ministry has lifted the ban on some countries including Iran, Mongolia and China because reports have shown that these countries are disease-free. He said the Kingdom was one of the largest livestock importers in the world, importing over 4.4 million sheep, 76,995 goats, 70,015 camels and 125,584 cows in 2009. The minister said he has completed a long-term strategy for developing animal resources sector in the Kingdom and to increase its self-sufficiency in animal products.
