Angolan importers of pork and chicken meat, certain categories of rice and sugar, and tilapia will be required to purchase from local producers an amount equivalent to at least 20% of what they intend to import, the Government announced on Thursday (21).
The measure is part of a package aimed at stimulating the production of essential goods by promoting the mandatory acquisition, display and commercialisation of domestically produced mass-consumption goods with existing local supply. The package was reviewed during the first ordinary meeting of the Economic Commission of the Council of Ministers.
According to the Government, the measures “aim to promote national production, guarantee the marketing of domestic output and gradually replace imports” and are included in an executive decree to be published by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Angola.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, the Minister of Industry and Trade, Rui Miguêns de Oliveira, said the objective of the additional measures approved is to strengthen and deepen the country’s economic diversification process.
The decree establishes that companies importing certain goods — pork, chicken meat, regular milled rice with 5% broken grains, refined Icumsa 150 sugar and tilapia — whose domestic production is already significant but still insufficient to meet total demand, must purchase from national producers at least 20% of the amount they intend to import.
The minister gave the example of an importer wishing to import 100 tonnes of pork, who would have to prove that they intend to purchase, have already contracted, or are in the process of acquiring 20 tonnes of pork from local producers. Failure to do so would result in the importer not being licensed.
According to the minister, the procedure will also create conditions for national production to gain greater access to consumer markets and ensure that local products are prominently displayed on retail shelves.
“It is important to say that any decisions by traders that in any way restrict, conceal or hinder consumers’ access to domestically produced goods will be prohibited,” he stressed, adding that the executive decree will be published shortly and will enter into force within 30 days.
For the minister, the decision will also create opportunities for more entrepreneurs, businesspeople and families to join the national production process, since “the government will always do its part in guaranteeing space in the domestic market for the acquisition of local products.”
Asked about the possibility of price speculation due to import restrictions, he argued that, “on the contrary,” the measures are creating opportunities for producers to access markets, pointing to the quota system already introduced for rice and sugar imports as an example.
“What statistics have shown us is that prices of essential goods have either remained stable or tended to decline. Therefore, we believe that this incentive, on the contrary, should bring more production to the market and, by bringing more production to the market, we will have more affordable prices,” he added.
Source: Lusa
