Government urged to tighten control of imported chickens

JAKARTA (JP): The government has been urged to control the distribution of imported chicken which has not been slaughtered according to Islamic law.

Information Center for the Jakarta Poultry Market (Pinsar) chairman Karyoto told The Jakarta Post on Friday his association had called on the authorities several times over the past year to take action to ensure the chicken was halal (allowed under Islamic law).

"We sent an official letter to the Ministry of Agriculture earlier this year, but there has not yet been a response," he said.

Muslims represent over 80 percent of Jakarta's 10 million residents.

Karyoto, a Buddhist, said the government should take action to ensure the imported chicken was allowed under Islamic law. Large cities across the country have been flooded by some 200 tons of imported chicken from the United States each month since earlier this year.

Half of this imported chicken ended up in markets in Jakarta, he said.

He expected the amount of imported chicken would increase over the next month as demand rose during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan, Christmas and Idul Fitri.

Karyoto said non-halal imported chicken was first discovered in January at a local market. Chicken thighs at the market were being sold far below market price.

He said Pinsar investigated the case. "Based on Pinsar's investigation, the cheap chicken was imported by a company in the East Java capital of Surabaya from America in the form of thighs, which in the States is categorized as dark meat or remnant cuts."

He said Americans preferred breast meat to thighs because the breast had less fat.

"In the past, the thighs were exported to Russia, but due to the chronic economic crisis in that country, American businesses looked for another potential market and sold the chicken at a very cheap price," he said.

In the United States, chicken costs 20 US cents (Rp 1,400 at the current exchange) per kilogram, Karyoto added.

He said Pinsar was positive the chicken in the market was not halal because it was not originally intended for Muslim countries.

"Every year, I'm invited by U.S. organizations to see chicken slaughterhouses in the country. All the meat intended for Muslim communities is not slaughtered according to Islamic law," he said.

However, he said imported chicken did not currently pose a risk to the local market because the amount of imported chicken was insignificant compared to demand.

According to Pinsar, Jakarta requires some 400,000 chickens per day, higher than the figure quoted by the City Livestock Husbandry Agency, which put the number at about 300,000 chickens. (ind)