Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s livestock imports during the current Hijri year increased by 40 percent compared to the same period last year, the kingdom’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture said Thursday.
Since the beginning of this month, a total of 700,000 imported head of livestock have been cleared by the ministry at Jeddah Islamic Port.
The ministry said it expects half a million more head to arrive in the coming days, in preparation for this year’s Hajj season.
New markets have been opened in the kingdom for imports from several countries during the Hajj season, and it is expected that more than 1.5 million head of livestock will arrive during the current season, including nearly 1 million head for the kingdom’s project to benefit from cattle sacrifices.
The ministry confirmed that the ministry’s veterinary teams place the safety of livestock among their priorities, as they are keen to ensure that they are free of diseases, through the application of accurate quarantine procedures and virtual and laboratory detection on all consignments.
The ministry explained that it is working in coordination with the relevant authorities to take several measures that will contribute to the abundance of live livestock, overcome difficulties and study the epidemiological situation in the source countries, as during the previous period new markets were opened for import from several, SPA reported.