Jordan Poultry Prices Jump 30% as Trade on U.S. Chicken Halted

By Claudia Carpenter  

Jordan poultry prices have jumped 30 percent after a packaging regulation was imposed that’s all but stopped shipments of U.S. chicken leg quarters, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s attache in Amman.
The Jordan Ministry of Agriculture’s rule change in September that packages must not exceed 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) has left trade with U.S. at a “virtual halt,” the USDA’s attache at the Foreign Agricultural Service in Amman said in a report on the USDA website. Jordan’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, responsible for trade matters, “was taken aback” at news of the regulation when the FAS asked for a copy of the measure, the FAS said. The agriculture department imposed the rule on sanitary concerns, the FAS said.
“The implementation of the measure positions Jordan in breach of its commitments under its World Trade Organization and Jordan-U.S. free trade agreements,” the FAS said. “Jordan consumers are bearing the brunt of the measure.”
The FAS said it’s working with the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the Jordan food trade industry for a solution. In 2013, the U.S. exported 5,200 metric tons of chicken leg quarters to Jordan with a value of $11.2 million, the FAS said.