Importing Eggs: Is It Another Senseless Decision?

Once a least expensive sources of protein and considered as a super food, eggs today are perceived as a luxury that only members of the upper class can afford.

This is just another tragic outcome of the senseless decision made by the former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to outlaw chemical fertilisers. Since that time, the Government has been making rash decisions in an effort to clean up the mess the previous president caused.

In the end, the Government opted to import eggs from India with the Government’s assent, despite severe opposition from various groups and occasionally State officials. The legitimacy of these protests is not clear, and the public is equally confused by the Government’s rash decision.

A ship carrying the first consignment of eggs, imported from India, was scheduled to reach Sri Lanka on 26 February. It contains two million eggs which have been decided to be used only for bakery products.

However, in a bid to dispel public fear regarding imported eggs, the All Island Canteen Owners’ Association Chairman Asela Sampath challenged the proponents of egg importation from India to make an omelette in front of the media using an egg imported from India.

He said the front runners should also demonstrate to the media how to dispose of the eggshell.

Addressing the media, Sampath proposed presenting the first batch of imported eggs from India to Parliament to be used to prepare food in Parliament, such as puddings and watalappam.

He added that MPs could demonstrate that these imported eggs do not endanger the lives of Sri Lankans by applying them to their faces in front of the media, as they do in facials.

“Show us and then we will purchase imported eggs without any fear. Then we will be able to use the imported eggs to prepare our food and provide food items, uwsing these eggs purchased at Rs 25, such as egg kottu, egg fried rice, and egg roti,” he said.

Meanwhile, if an outsider other than the State Trading Corporation (STC) imports eggs, the Government will levy a tax of Rs 50 per egg, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya warned.

He claimed the Government is doing this to protect local egg producers.

He also highlighted that, with the Secretary to the Ministry of Trade’s approval, the State Trading Corporation has been granted permission to import eggs after following quarantine protocols. Siyambalapitiya told the media that the tax on those eggs is Rs 1 per egg and that they cost around Rs 30 in Sri Lanka. He said these eggs are not provided to retail sellers, but rather to chocolate, scone, and bakery owners. Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation has obtained the first consignment containing two million eggs.

Amidst all this, Deputy Leader of the Up-Country People’s Front and Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP, Dr. V. Radhakrishnan requested the Government to take steps to provide eggs imported from India at subsidised prices to malnourished plantation workers.

He added that the Government has focused on lowering the price of bakery products by providing subsidised imported eggs to bakery owners. He also urged the Government to provide subsidised imported eggs to malnourished plantation workers and to take steps to eliminate their malnutrition.

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera had recently instructed the Department of Animal Production and Health to prepare a series of guidelines to be used when importing eggs.

Accordingly, gloves are required when handling imported eggs, while the eggshells should be safely disposed of or destroyed. It is said that the eggshells should not be released into the environment at any cost. The Ministry of Agriculture has announced that these guidelines will be issued with the objective of preventing the avian flu virus from entering the country.

The people’s behaviour may change in two ways as a result of this choice. For the time being, a decrease in bakery items may occur if the proprietors of the bakeries and canteens accept the imported eggs. The alternative is that people will cease eating eggs entirely.

Nonetheless, the Government or other competent authorities believe that fewer bakery items will encourage young children to consume more eggs as a source of protein. The real requirement is to import eggs and lower the cost of bakery goods to ensure that chocolate producers have access to enough eggs.

Eggs have historically been touted as a low-cost, widely accessible, and palatable source of high-quality protein. Eggs are a great meal to add in the diets of older persons because of the diversity of nutrients they provide. If the Government is acting to address these challenges, it should not focus on assisting owners of bakeries and canteens or chocolate producers, but rather on how to work to supply an egg in a meal for a child, an adult, and, of course, an elderly person.