The most recent assembly between Turkish Cypriot farmers and the north’s ‘authorities’ over the continued dispute concerning imported meat ended with out outcome on Friday, the north’s animal producers’ and breeders’ union chairman Mustafa Naimogullari mentioned on Friday.
Naimogullari had met with ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, ‘finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova, ‘agriculture minister’ Huseyin Cavus, and ‘financial system minister’ Olgun Amcaoglu, however mentioned afterwards {that a} answer couldn’t be discovered.
He added that the ‘ministers’ had informed him his calls for shall be evaluated on the north’s subsequent cupboard assembly, and that with no answer discovered, protests would proceed in entrance of the ‘agriculture ministry’ constructing on Monday.
Moreover, he mentioned he didn’t imagine the ‘authorities’ are performing in good religion, and added that they’re “enjoying for time”.
The assembly got here a day after a complete of 21 tonnes of imported New Zealand lamb arrived within the north from the Netherlands. The lamb shall be stored in a freezer in Mia Milia.
The meat’s import was organised by the north’s Soil merchandise establishment (Tuk), a ‘state’-owned enterprise which usually offers with the export of uncooked merchandise and high quality assurance.
Tuk’s chairman of the board Gursel Uzun informed newspaper Kibris that the north’s veterinary division had carried out checks on the meat to make sure that the imported meat complies with the north’s security requirements earlier than it’s distributed to retailers.
“We now have all of the checks and well being certificates in line with the European Union’s laws. Nonetheless, a last evaluation is being carried out by the veterinary division. As quickly because the outcomes can be found, the meat shall be distributed to our folks,” he mentioned.
Friday’s assembly reduce a special tone to the earlier assembly between Naimogullari and Ustel, which occurred on the finish of final month.
Naimogullari had mentioned on the time that Ustel had “listened to us and mentioned he would do the required work”, whereas Ustel had mentioned t is the ‘authorities’s’ obligation to “assist each producers and customers”.
“We’re working to realize this stability,” he mentioned, including that his ‘authorities’s’ purpose is to “guarantee our folks’s consolation by making certain unity and solidarity.”
Ustel had mentioned the choice had been taken for meat to be imported after there had been a lot of arrests made and fines levied in opposition to Turkish Cypriots who tried smuggle meat to the north from the Republic with the purpose of avoiding the excessive meat costs seen within the north.
He expressed concern that Turkish Cypriots had been shopping for “meat of unknown origin from southern Cyprus”, and that as a substitute, the north would start importing meat which complies with “EU requirements”.
In any case, at current, the Inexperienced Line regulation prohibits the motion of animals and animal merchandise from one facet of Cyprus to the opposite.
The choice to import meat had been introduced midway by means of Might in response to the excessive worth of meat within the north, but in addition after makes an attempt to implement worth controls had additionally failed.
The ‘authorities’ had in April carried out worth controls on lamb meat, decreeing that or not it’s bought for not more than 550TL (€15.89 on the time) per kilogram, however butchers then carried out service charges to sidestep the regulation.
The charge sometimes ranged between 10 and 15 per cent of the retail worth of the meat, thus successfully permitting butchers to cost extra.
