- Animals have not been imported to the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of 2012 due to animal diseases, said the region's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
The ministry's director general of animal resources and veterinary Abas Abed said Kurdistan merchants have not been able to meet the ministry's criteria for imports.

The ministry allows traders and merchants to import animals from some countries like Turkey, Iran, Brazil, Armenia and Gurjistan, but bans importing animals from the US, Germany and Spain.

Abed added: "The meat price is up for that reason and also because of drought and a lack of sufficient government support."

Some 43,778 sheep and cows were imported to the region in 2011 from Georgia, Brazil, Iran, Turkey and some of Iraq's provinces, such as Kirkuk, Garmian and Mosul.




AKnews