Chicken eggs from Serbia are still banned from being exported to the countries of the European Union (EU) because the rulebook on growing chickens does not match European standards, and the Ministry of Agriculture does not have precise information on when this problem could be solved, write today's "Večernje Novosti".
Transport through EU countries is also prohibited, and the solution to this problem requires the producer to change the complete equipment for growing chickens, says the director of the Poultry Business Association, Rade Škorić.
The EU regulation on cock breeding provides that one individual needs 750 square centimeters of space, while according to our standards 550 square centimeters is needed, and the standards are different when it comes to the height of the cage because the EU requires that there be 20 centimeters of free space above the cock and the existence of a special space for the nest so that the hen could lay eggs in solitude, adds Škorić.
Eggs from Serbia are exported to countries in the region, and recently 800.000 eggs were exported to Equatorial Guinea. According to Radet Škorić, this type of export is unprofitable.
The representative of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Bojan Stanić, said that on the eve of Easter, an immediate increase in the price of eggs is expected, and that the price per piece will be between 40 and 50 dinars, so that in that period, consumption is expected to be lower than last year due to the reduced purchasing power of consumers. .
"There may be a price of 40 or 50 dinars per piece before the Easter holidays, and it is estimated that the consumption of eggs will be lower compared to previous years, which indicates a decline in purchasing power and which, of course, is the saddest part of this whole story," he said. he.
The Republic Institute of Statistics announced that the price of eggs has risen by 30 percent compared to last year, and experts believe that this is the result of a drastic increase in food prices of as much as 80 percent.
The price of eggs in the European Union in January was on average 30 percent higher than last year, the European statistical office Eurostat announced. Prices rose the most in the Czech Republic (85 percent), Hungary (80 percent) and Slovakia (79 percent). The reason is the increase in the price of energy and fodder.
Milan Prostran, agroeconomist, says that the price of eggs in Serbia will be even higher "when one day our law is harmonized with the law of the European Union on the fact that eggs can only be produced using the floor method of keeping laying hens, no longer on floors because it is considered that it is not good for the chickens. Such a method will not have high productivity, so the price will rise."
He says that "that has yet to happen, although you still have eggs in some of our stores with this label "from the floor keeping method" and they are 20 to 30 percent more expensive.
S.Ć./Večernje novosti/Blic
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