KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu confirmed that the price of eggs and chicken in the market will be floated from July 1.

In a written Dewan Rakyat reply, Mohamad also known as Mat Sabu said government subsidies for eggs and chickens would end after June 30, adding that the domestic trade and cost of living ministry would control the price of these two items.

"In order to ensure that the supply of chicken and eggs can be stabilised after the subsidy is terminated, the ministry will implement several soft landing mechanisms,” he said.

This includes abolishing the ban on the export of live broiler chickens except for day-old chicks, whole chickens, and chicken cuts completely from July 1 and allowing the importation of poultry and eggs from recognised source countries.

"For the importation of chicken, the permitted source countries include Thailand, China, Brazil and Denmark. While for the importation of eggs, the source countries allowed are Thailand and Ukraine.

"This will enable farmers to earn income from the export market and help cash flow into the country,” he said.

He said the ministry will continue the stockpiling programme for whole chickens under the Board of Farmers' Organisations adding that, as of May 7, 63 per cent of the target of 2,177 metric tonnes has been stored.

He added that the ministry will continue the Civil Agro Sales Program by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Board (Fama) to market various agricultural products including eggs, with prices 5 to 10 per cent lower than the local bazaar, especially in low-income housing areas.

"Until May 8, a total of 28,078,620 eggs have been distributed through 369 FAMA outlets,” he said.

He was responding to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin’s question on whether the government had conducted a comprehensive study on the effects of the chicken and eggs price control policy change.

Currently, the controlled retail price for a standard chicken or a chicken that has been slaughtered, cleaned and with all parts retained was RM9.40 per kg in Peninsular Malaysia; RM9.90 per kg in Langkawi; between RM9.80 and RM12.90 per kg in Sarawak, depending on the district; either RM11 or RM11.30 per kg in Sabah, again based on the district; and RM11.30 per kg in Labuan.