Saudi Arabia Halts Imports of Poultry and Eggs from Indonesia; Amran's Response Proves Unexpected

Jakarta – The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has formally implemented a total ban on importing poultry and eggs from 40 countries, including Indonesia. The policy has been adopted as a precautionary measure to protect public health and strengthen food safety standards in the Saudi domestic market.

However, the Saudi import ban on Indonesian poultry has not deterred Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman. Instead, he views the policy as an opportunity to promote the export of higher-value-added processed products.

Amran believes the Saudi policy represents a catalyst for advancing downstream processing of livestock products.

“Yes, the ban is on poultry, but not processed products. We should process them instead; the value is much higher. That’s how business works,” Amran said after seeing off exports of poultry products and derivatives at the Agriculture Ministry car park in Jakarta on Tuesday (3 March 2026).

According to him, a business approach must identify opportunities within restrictions. He directly compared the selling price of live chickens with processed products. He contended that processed products command significantly higher prices.

“This is processed chicken meat. The value is this. Let’s say it’s double in value compared to live poultry or chicken. If I export chickens, the price might be, say, Rp30,000 per kilogram. If this is a finished product, it’s double. Which would you choose? We should actually be grateful that Saudi Arabia banned live poultry. I send this processed chicken meat instead. Which would you prefer – Rp60,000 or Rp30,000? Rp60,000 per package,” he explained.

Amran viewed the move as aligning with President Prabowo Subianto’s directive on commodity downstream processing.

“It’s processed, not live poultry. That’s exactly what the President’s instruction aims at – we process raw materials into finished products. This increases the value by 100%. And that’s the objective,” he said.

Meanwhile, Charoen Pokphand Jaya Farm Director Jusi Jusran confirmed that Saudi Arabia has indeed not opened imports of Indonesian poultry to date.

“Yes, Saudi Arabia’s government has not opened imports or the introduction of poultry, whether chilled carcass or live birds, from Indonesia up to now,” Jusi said at the same event.

Nevertheless, he stressed that this condition is not a permanent obstacle.

“But not sending frozen chicken carcass or live poultry to Saudi Arabia is not the end of the world, so to speak. Because, as Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman mentioned, sending processed products, ready-to-eat or ready-to-serve items, has much greater value,” he explained.

Jusi stated that efforts to open market access have been underway for three years through government-to-government (G2G) cooperation.

“The process of obtaining permits or G2G cooperation began three years ago, and now we are starting to receive approval to send finished products, or ready-to-eat, ready-to-serve, or products that have undergone heat treatment. So these are processed products,” he said.

Fierce Competition with Brazil and the United States

Though opportunities exist, penetrating the Saudi market remains challenging. Jusi acknowledged that his company has yet to send products to Saudi Arabia because it focuses on the United Arab Emirates market and other Gulf countries.

“Charoen Pokphand has not sent products to Saudi Arabia because our target market is the UAE and other Gulf nations. Although we currently have new countries we are working on, they cannot yet be announced. God willing, there will be positive developments in the coming weeks,” he said.

He explained that exporting food products faces numerous technical requirements and fierce price competition from major countries.

“Because exporting products is not easy – the recipient country will demand many technical requirements to complicate imports. Why? Because we face products from Brazil, products from America, products from Thailand. They are very cheap, very competitive, very attractive. So the challenge is very heavy,” Jusi stated.

Jusi noted that Saudi Arabia has historically relied heavily on supplies from these countries.

“As for Saudi Arabia, perhaps they have felt Indonesia is not yet needed because they have already received substantial product imports from countries like Brazil, America, and Thailand,” he said.

However, his company, working alongside the government, continues to endeavour to enable Indonesian products to enter not only for hajj pilgrims but also the commercial market, such as hotels, restaurants, and catering.

“Hopefully this will soon be realised and we can sell products not only for hajj pilgrims but for commercial purposes – for hotels, restaurants, catering, beyond hajj services. Because that would be very good for our products and for the nation’s image. Because then we would be able to match America, Brazil, and Thailand, which are known for exporting food products,” Jusi said.

Furthermore, he disclosed that his company has already met with the Food and Drug Supervisory Authority (BPOM) to discuss requirements so that his company can soon supply processed chicken meat products to Saudi Arabia.

“I met with BPOM, because Saudi Arabia products are handled by BPOM – this was two months ago. Hopefully, towards the end of 2026, there will be good signals for Charoen Pokphand products,” he concluded.