BEIRUT: The price of locally produced fresh milk will decrease slightly, Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayab announced Tuesday, following a loss of sales as a result of December’s price rise.
“The price of a liter of milk will be set at LL1000 ... [dropping from] LL1100,” Chehayeb announced at a news conference, after meeting farmers’ representatives Tuesday.
The minister explained that the move was the result of a decline in demand for Lebanese milk both internally and in foreign markets.
Chehayeb, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and Economy Minister Alain Hakim announced last December that LL1100 would be the minimum price for fresh milk. The price was set to counter the exploitation of farmers by dairy factory owners - who had been using a fall in demand to pay farmers much lower prices for their product.
The decrease in prices was also connected to Abu Faour’s crackdown on food safety violators, which saw many factories shut down across the country.
Chehayeb also announced a raft of measures to protect local milk production.
The measures will include obliging all local producers to stamp products made from fresh and not powdered milk, controlling the borders to stop the illegal entry of dairy products from Syria and 127 unlicensed small factories in Lebanon being either closed or registered.
“We will build a room for reviews and complaints in the Agriculture Ministry to follow up on the file,” the minister said.
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