The City Trade and Industry Bureau of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is to require licensing all cattle breeders and traders in the capital. Butcheries in the Ethiopian capital will be prohibited from purchasing meats from unlicensed distributors.
The directive is part of efforts to limit unexpected surges in the price of meat eliminating middlemen according to city officials.
Cattle and meat prices have seen unprecedented surges in the last few years due to influences exerted by large traders and butchers said the officials.Traders bring cattle into Addis Ababa from various regions in Ethiopia and are subjected to fees at checkpoints along the way as well as costs for handlers.
The licenses being issued in Addis Ababa will be recorded with the regions that the traders come from said Mekonnen Seifu, Head of Trading Activities and Expansion at the Bureau.
Licensing may be difficult to enforce due to the traditional nature of cattle trading in Addis Ababa with most people buying on the streets closest to their homes said Daniel Alemu Coordinator of a Breeders Association.
The new directive is still in the process of being drafted by experts in the Trade Linkage Department of the City Trade and Industry Bureau before being submitted by Shisema Gebreselassie Head of the Bureau.
Source: Addis Fortune
