14ymedio, Havana, December 1, 2023 — The Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) announced that it will soon begin exporting fresh eggs to Cuba. Negotiations with Havana began in July, the entity explained in a statement, but they needed approval from the Island’s National Center for Animal Health, which finally gave the green light to the purchase.
“We are pleased to announce this important news for the poultry sector, which will bring great benefits to the national economy, job creation and the transformation of the Colombian countryside,” said Juan Fernando Roa, manager of the ICA.
The official also welcomed the approval of the relevant certifications for the shipment of food, which require that Colombia keep its data updated with the World Organization for Animal Health, that it be a territory free of avian influenza and Newcastle disease, two diseases with high level of contagion that can damage both the life and production of birds and which are transmitted to humans. Likewise, breeding farms where eggs are collected are required to be under official veterinary control.
In Havana, a thirty-unit carton of eggs costs around 3,000 pesos, a figure that exceeds the average monthly salary.
In Colombia, an egg has a price of 581 Colombian pesos, which is equivalent to 14 cents USD or 37 Cuban pesos. Although the value is only a third of the 100 pesos that a unit can cost on the Island, it is likely that the cost of importing will increase its price.
Although Havana does not appear as one of Bogotá’s main partners, this country does export large quantities of eggs to other nations in the region. In 2021, Colombia exported eggs worth $600,000 to Ecuador, its main buyer. This was followed by Venezuela (397,000) and Aruba (2,700). In that same year, Colombia exported eggs, in total, worth one million dollars, but imported the same product for 1.89 million dollars, making it a net importer.
Eggs are in high demand by Cubans who, faced with the food crisis and the inability to pay the high prices of meat, turn to this product, which has reached prices that border on the prohibitive.
For those who have family abroad, the alternative has been virtual sales platforms such as Supermarket or Tuambia
The debacle of the poultry industry worsens the situation. In addition to the health problems of the animals, aggravated by the lack of feed and vitamins, the list of deficiencies that affect the entire national production is notable: there is no food, but also no fuel or supplies to achieve the basic conditions of comfort for chickens, whose egg production experiences a brutal drop due to these factors.
The authorities, who have not been able to guarantee the delivery in recent months of the five eggs per person per month provided for in the ration system’s basic basket, justify the failure of the farms by alleging that Cuban birds are very “sensitive and get stressed easily,” in addition to pointing to, as usual, the US embargo on the Island.
For those who have family abroad, the alternative has been virtual sales platforms such as Supermarket or Tuambia, which offer to deliver the food on the Island if it is paid for from the United States. The egg brands sold on these portals are mostly American.
MSMEs [small businesses], with import facilities, also offer eggs purchased abroad which are widely accepted among Cubans. Packaged by the dozens, clean and stamped, these eggs are generally larger in size and have more intensely colored yolks than those produced domestically.
In Havana, a thirty-unit carton of eggs costs around 3,000 pesos, a figure that exceeds the average monthly salary.
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