RASC News Agency: Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, has announced the ban on importing poultry meat to Afghanistan. Azizi cited concerns over the halal status of chicken imported from Brazil, claiming there was uncertainty about whether the meat was halal or haram. He mentioned that the Afghan people were consuming Brazilian chicken “with suspicion.”
According to Afghan state-controlled radio and television, Azizi stated on Thursday, October 17, that the decision to halt chicken imports was made by Taliban religious scholars. “The Taliban’s clerics decided to stop importing chicken from neighboring and distant countries entirely, to support domestic production,” Azizi said.
During the opening of an agricultural products exhibition, Azizi further declared that Afghanistan had now achieved self-sufficiency in poultry farming and related products. He noted that “hundreds of thousands” of people are currently employed in the poultry sector within the country. Prior to this ban, most chicken imports came from neighboring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan.
However, critics argue that this ban has put many people out of work. A knowledgeable source claimed that the Taliban’s economic policies lack transparency and that the ban is motivated by the group’s desire to monopolize the poultry market, as Taliban officials have reportedly established their own poultry farms. The source added that Taliban members are attempting to control all market activities and prevent others from engaging in independent economic endeavors.
