Government plan to distribute meat "special to certain groups"

While Iranian officials are urging families not to worry about their supply of red meat, media reports continue to show long lines to buy meat. Meanwhile, an official has announced a new government plan to limit meat distribution.

The shortage of live livestock due to smuggling to neighboring countries, the decrease in the rate of livestock slaughter, and the activities of what officials call "dealers" are among the most important reasons for the disruption of the red meat distribution system and the formation of long lines to buy frozen meat in Iran.

Meanwhile, Morteza Rezaei, Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad for Livestock Production, recently announced the government's new plan to "limit the distribution of mutton to a specific group."

Emphasizing that this issue is being reviewed by the government, he added: "Perhaps the market-regulated meat that reaches consumers at specific prices will be limited to a certain segment of society and made available to them through a basket of goods or a shopping card."

The Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad did not announce the implementation date of this plan, but said he hopes that decisions will be made about it before Nowruz 2019.

"Attack of Families"

Low-income families have been buying government-issued frozen meat at “punitive prices” since the past few weeks, following a sudden increase in the prices of various types of meat in stores and butchers. Meanwhile, officials have urged families not to “rush” to stores that distribute frozen meat.

In order to ease the 24-hour queues for purchasing government meat, which have sparked public protests, government officials have announced a plan to sell market-regulated meat online. The plan was launched today, February 8, and families can order frozen Brazilian meat monthly based on their zip code at a price of 28,500 tomans per kilo and have it delivered to their homes the next day. The Iranian government believes that with this change in the way basic goods are purchased and delivered, the online market will replace traditional methods of purchasing, selling, and distributing.

The goal of the online meat sales plan is to improve people's well-being, prevent long queues, and prevent the activities of brokers.

Meat queue on the anniversary of the revolution

In recent weeks, the media in Iran have published numerous news reports and images of families waiting in lines to buy frozen meat, which has sparked reactions on social media, even during Friday prayer sermons.

Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, the Friday prayer leader in Karaj, addressed the government officials during Friday prayers last week and asked whether it was right for people to stand in line for meat.

According to Tasnim News Agency, he said, "Is it appropriate for people to stand in line for meat on the anniversary of the revolution?" He said, "A few years ago, on the eve of the victory of the revolution, they gave out food baskets, which was very bad and not a good thing. All of this is a detriment to the revolution and must be corrected."

Ahmad Amirabadi, a member of the Majlis' presidium, considered the coexistence of "discrimination" and other problems to be a cause of unhappiness for the "Iranian nation."

The Qom representative, who spoke about the "achievements of the Islamic Revolution," according to Tasnim News Agency, did not consider the long lines for meat to be "beautiful" for the country, saying, "Instead of solving economic problems such as the high price of meat, the government is proud that people can buy meat online."

Importing red meat from five continents

Executive officials have consistently told the public that the country has “no” problem supplying basic goods. They have urged families to refrain from “attacking” stores selling Ta’zirati meat.

Alireza Rafieipour, head of the country's Veterinary Organization, has assured the public not to "worry" about the supply of red meat, as soon the meat consumed by the Iranian people will be imported not only from Brazil but from five continents.

So far, 145,000 tons of meat have been imported into the country, and this amount will reach 240,000 tons by the end of 2018. According to the head of the Veterinary Organization, the country's need for red meat is 140,000 to 150,000 tons, and importing 170,000 to 180,000 tons is sufficient for the country.

He predicts that more than 240,000 tons of red meat will be imported into the country by the end of 2018.

Meat production decreased, livestock smuggling increased

The reasonable price of live livestock in Iran compared to neighboring countries and the weakening of the Iranian rial in recent months have, according to Iranian officials, created a high "pull" for the export and illegal exit of livestock.

Officials say that although livestock smuggling has not reached zero, they hope that with the new government resolution and cooperation between border guards and law enforcement, they will be able to largely prevent livestock smuggling to neighboring countries so that the domestic market is not disrupted.

Agricultural Jihad officials hope that with these new regulations, many livestock farmers will look inward instead of the "profitable" markets of buying countries and "align their expectations with the government's pocketbook."

In this regard, Rezaei, Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad for Livestock Production Affairs, said: "The country's livestock and red meat market has been hit by a price war, and the price of livestock has increased due to the demand for it abroad, and livestock owners are not willing to easily sell their products at a lower price."

Although Hassan Rouhani's government has repeatedly said that it is not facing a "shortage or famine of red meat."

According to the Statistical Center of Iran, a comparison of the performance of Iranian slaughterhouses in the fall of 2018 with the performance of the same season in 2017 shows that 20 percent of the amount of red meat production in official domestic slaughterhouses has decreased.

Brokerage for restaurants and grills

The government's red meat distribution plan, according to some, has been plagued by "hands behind the scenes" distributing and directing government meat to restaurants.

The head of the Mazandaran Butchers' Union is not the only one making this claim. Behrouz Talebian, head of the joint patrols of the penal system and judge of Branch 46 of Tehran Province, also has a similar opinion.

In recent days, a ton of frozen meat stored in a store was discovered by joint patrols of the Tazirat Police. According to Behrouz Talebian, further investigations have shown that this imported frozen meat was stored for sale to barbecues and restaurants.

The warehouse owner has claimed that he buys market-regulated meat from meat dealers in fruit and vegetable markets for 48,000 tomans and sells it for a profit of only 1,000 tomans.

Re-establishment of the “Committee to Combat Price Gouging”

The Tehran Prosecutor's Office has announced that it will increase its monitoring teams over the distribution of four items: meat, poultry, fruit, and dairy.

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, Tehran Prosecutor, announced in an interview with Radio Tehran the formation of a "Committee to Combat Overpricing" with the aim of preventing hoarding of essential goods and rent-seeking.

For many Iranians, the formation of this committee is reminiscent of the years of the Iran-Iraq war, the days of rationing and couponing items, and the installation of banners to fight against monopolists in the 1980s.

Source: DW