Hazem Al-Smadi, Assistant Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture for Marketing and Quality Affairs, said on Thursday that the ministry is continuing to open new sources of meat import in order to enhance food security, increase production and diversify the sources of imported agricultural products.

Al-Smadi clarified through the “Kingdom” that Jordan exports half a million heads of sheep, and imports 1.5 million heads of various origins.

He added: “Wherever there is an origin in a country that is free of diseases that affect animals, we seek to import from it… The discrepancy in prices is normal, and the consumer of imported meat is different from the consumer of local, municipal meat.”

He believed that the ministry’s permission to import sheep from Georgia does not require a fuss, which is a normal situation for the ministry because it seeks to enhance food security, increase production and diversify the sources of imported agricultural products to avoid exploitation by some exporters.

He said that the world is witnessing an increase in the demand for food, and that the rise in energy prices globally will lead to an increase in the prices of food and agricultural products, but the controversy may be caused by speculation among retailers.

He stressed that import is not a strange or new matter.