Ethiopia is set to regulate the hides and skins market through a draft regulation being prepared by the Ministry of Trade. The regulation intended to stop illegal hides and skins trading eventually aims to ban slaughtering animals in the home.
Expected to come in effect in the coming fiscal year the regulations is planned to control all levels of the skin and hide market from Wereda to tanneries. Wereda’s and other units of city administration will be charged with undertaking the business by eliminating middlemen and making the process more transparent according to the regulation.
The regulation will aim to establish a quality marketplace offering hides and skins for tanneries and related leather investments. The first raw hide and skin market actors will be limited on each Wereda or city administration unit based on its size.Secondary level market actors such as slaughterhouses, suppliers and associations that are licensed by the Ministry of Trade will be permitted to buy and sell skins from the first level market actors to sell to tanneries.
Secondary market actors will need to have warehouses and reserve centers approved by the appropriate governmental office to engage in the sector. All trading will be conducted according to contracts signed between suppliers and tanneries according to the regulation.
Future plans include trading skin and hides on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange along side other agricultural produce as per the regulation. All trading at that time will be conducted on the quality and standards set by the Ethiopian Standards Agency.
Source: Capital
