Ministry mulls MRP on local eggs if high prices continue

The Trade, Commerce and Food Security Ministry will implement a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on eggs if the current prices do not come down, Ministry Secretary A.M.P.M.B. Athapaththu said yesterday.

He said the Consumer Affairs Authority is analysing the egg market and its production dynamics. This analysis will serve as a foundation for the Ministry to regulate and reduce egg prices in due course.

“The Ministry is importing more eggs from India to ensure stability in egg supplies in the market, especially to ensure the availability of eggs during the upcoming Sinhala and Hindu New Year in April,” he said.

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has called upon the Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Ministry to take measures to reduce egg prices and to set a MRP on egg prices, to prevent unfair profiteering by egg manufacturers and traders.

Officials of the Commerce and Food Security Ministry said that the decision to import eggs which was initiated less than two years ago stemmed from the alarming trend of local manufacturers and traders hiking prices often. This move was prompted by widespread discontent among consumers caught in a vicious cycle of escalating egg prices, sparking concerns within the Ministry about the need for intervention, they said. Responding to inquiries about the high egg prices in the market ranging between Rs. 55 to Rs. 65, a Food Security Ministry Director, who wished to remain anonymous, said despite the ministry’s efforts to import eggs from India, the traders continued to inflate prices.

The director debunked the notion that high foreign exchange rates on poultry feed imports were to blame for the increased egg prices. He said that the Ministry had taken steps to reduce the import tax rate on maize, a key poultry feed ingredient, from Rs. 75 to Rs. 25. However, the benefits of these measures failed to reach consumers, as traders persisted in increasing egg prices arbitrarily.

He said that despite stable foreign exchange rates on essential items, poultry manufacturers have played a game in manipulating egg prices according to their own whims and fancies, leaving consumers in the lurch. Eggs, a prime source of protein, are in big demand as most people cannot afford to buy fish or meat.

Our attempts to contact the All Ceylon Egg Producers’ Association Chairman Sarath Rathnayaka for a response failed at the time this edition went to press.

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