The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) in coordination with the Ministry of Municipality and Widam food announced the joint national initiative to encourage local production and subsidise the prices of sheep for Eid Al Adha 2024.
The initiative intends to control the market during the blessed Eid Al-Adha to stabilise the prices, explore a balance between demand and supply, maintain domestic markets stabilization during certain seasons in which demand increases over supply, reduce unwarranted surge in sheep prices during this season and provide basic commodities for consumers at affordable prices.
MoCI highlighted that it has agreed with Widam food to provide local and imported sheep to be further sold out with reduced prices, one sheep, per citizen, on condition that purchasers' age should not be less than 18, with the significance of displaying the original copy of QID to finalise the purchase at the Widam-run slaughterhouses in the regions of Al-Shamal, Al-Khor, Umm Salal, Al-Wakrah, Al-Shahaniya, and Abu Nakhla.
As per initiative, the price of both local and imported sheep (weight of 40kg and over) is QR1000, MoCI highlighted. It emphasized that Widam food will be committed to providing the appropriate barns and never selling out thin sheep, or those that do not comply with the specifications and conditions of the Islamic Sharia and the maintain the sizes that have been agreed with MoCI.
The value of the slaughtering, cutting, packaging and loading fees is QR50, which includes QR34 for loading fees, and QR16 for slaughtering, cutting and packaging through separate coupons, MoCI added, highlighting that beneficiaries can use the coupon for slaughtering, cutting and packaging from the beginning of the initiative until the end of December 2024, in case the consumers do not intend to slaughter immediately.
MoCI confirmed that it would constantly intensify inspection campaigns to ensure adherence to the subsidized prices, along with the integrity of sheep selling procedures.
