• Home

Govt Strategy to Ensure Control Over Food Prices

ABU DHABI — The UAE government 
is planning a holistic strategy to 
achieve food security for 15 essential items including rice, wheat and meat, the Minister of Economy Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri said. Discussions have been held with other GCC member countries like Saudi Arabia and 
Kuwait, to take up joint food and agricultural ventures.

“We have discussed the prospects of cooperation in wheat cultivation with Canada. Potential investment in South-East Asia and Australia and some Arab countries were also explored,” Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri told a session of Federal National Council (FNC).

He said that a comprehensive study had been made on basic food imports. “A study on the management of the strategic reserve and its impact on prices has been finalised and submitted to the cabinet,” he said. “We still get 85 per cent of our edible items from outside and we need to protect ourselves in future,” he said.

Of the total food imports, 60 per cent is sourced from 10 countries only. The Ministry has completed a project for early warning for the mechanism of gauging change in prices of foodstuff at their country of origin.

The minister asked the authorities to make sure that the items imported were up to the specified standards. “We have 4,100 standard specifications but only 470 are mandatory and concern foodstuff,” he said.

The minister said that managing food prices is the collective responsibility of all concerned ministries.

“Spending on food commodities stands at 14.2 per cent, housing and accessories at 39.4 per cent, and transport and communications 11.1 per cent (of the household income),” he said.

On comments made by FNC members on price hikes, the minister 
said the ministry agreed with cement factories in 2008 to sell a 50 kg bag 
of cement at Dh16. The price was further reduced to Dh14 as of May 1. The price might further go down.

On cooperative societies, he said 
that the ministry had launched a series of initiatives to reduce prices of 
commodities, a move which helped 
attain price stability. “The ministry is currently making efforts to break the monopoly of foodstuff imports,” he said, citing the cabinet approval 
to waive the commercial agencies 
law, which allows any cooperative 
society to import food items.

“The ministry will soon issue 
the competition law which will boost efforts to abolish monopolies. The 
Bill is on the agenda of the cabinet’s committee for legislations,” the 
minister said.

— adel@khaleejtimes.com