Malaysia seeks more beef from Thailand

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 12

Malaysia seeks more beef from Thailand

NZPA Kuala Lumpur Malaysia wants to import more beef from Thailand because it is cheaper than beef imported from Australia and New Zealand, says the Secretary-General of the Agriculture Ministry, Mr Radin Soenarno. Malaysia now imported beef from one Thai abattoir and the Ministry would send a team of officials to see if other slaughterhouses could be included, he said. Malaysia is a Muslim country and among condi-

tions for meat imports is that the meat must be “halal” or slaughtered according to Muslim custom with prayers being said by a Muslim before slaughter. “At the moment we have not decided when to send our officers there, but when we do we will look into such matters as who supervises the abattoirs and which Muslim organisation is in charge,” said Mr Radin. The United States had also asked that some of its slaughterhouses be permitted

to sell meat to Malaysia, he said. He did not elaborate. Indian meat was also as cheap as Thai meat, Mr Radin said, but he did not say whether there were plans to import meat from India. Thirty-six abattoirs in Australia and New Zealand were allowed to export meat to Malaysia. Malaysia produced about 50 per cent of its annual beef consumption of 27,000 tonnes and depended on imports for the rest of its needs, ne said.