The Turkish Cypriot government has decided to import meat from the Netherlands. With this, the local government wants to reduce the cost of living for the Turkish-occupied northern part of the island, the Cyprus Mail reports.
The decision to import meat from the Netherlands comes after months of stories about Turkish Cypriots trying to smuggle meat from the independent south of the island to the north. In March, Turkish Cypriot police found and seized nearly two tons of beef in supermarkets in the north of the segregated island.
Meat imported from the Netherlands will be sold at butchers in the north, with frozen lamb costing 11.42 euros per kilogram and frozen packaged minced beef selling for 8.56 euros per kilogram. Prime Minister Ustel said that offers for meat supplies had been received from Spain, Romania and the Netherlands, and that they had chosen the Dutch offer.
Meat prices in the north are generally higher than those in the Republic of Cyprus – a fact that prompts residents to buy meat products south of the Green Line and illegally bring them back to the north.
Northern authorities are aware of possible reactions from northern butchers and said “there will be no step back”. The butchers see the government-organized meat import from the Netherlands as a disruption and threat to their market.
The first attempt to address this issue was the implementation of price controls on lamb in April. The pro-Turkish government determined that lamb could be sold for no more than 15.89 euros per kilogram, with butchers trying to sell their meat more expensively, resulting in fines being imposed.
Butchers in the north circumvented that law by introducing a “service fee” on top of the retail price of lamb. The fee typically varies between 10 and 15 percent of the sales price.
The northern Turkish Cypriot republic is not recognized by any country (except Turkey) and is subject to international embargo rules. As a result, the area relies almost entirely on Turkish financial support, is dependent on transit via Turkey for imports and exports, and there is hardly any healthy economy.
Partly as a result, meat prices in the southern independent neighboring republic of Cyprus are considerably cheaper, and there is increasing smuggling across the 'green line'. This international dividing line is monitored by UN observers.