6,000 lambs depart Serbia for Israel – Next shipment agreed for December

A shipment of 6,000 lambs from local farms departed today from Adorjan, near Kanjiza, bound for Israel, and the next consignment for that market has already been agreed upon for mid-December.

The lambs have been loaded onto 14 trucks for transport to the Port of Bar, from where they will be shipped to Israel by sea. The loading process was attended by Dragan Glamocic, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in a caretaker capacity, representatives of the Israeli buyer and Csaba Borsos, owner of the company Kontakt and the livestock collection and sales center in Adorjan.

Glamocic noted that it was particularly important for local livestock farmers that this was not a one-off delivery, but rather a business arrangement that could evolve into continuous exports.

– For our livestock farmers, the most important thing is having a buyer and a secure market. Today, 6,000 lambs are heading to Israel, and the next consignment has already been agreed upon. The state’s role is to open markets, harmonize certificates, and remove administrative barriers, while the private sector’s role is to find the buyer and execute the deal. When this system works effectively, the producer has an incentive to increase production – the minister said, according to the Ministry.

He noted that exports to Israel also demonstrated the importance of bilateral relations in opening new markets and creating opportunities for domestic producers.

The Israeli market has specific requirements regarding the import of live animals. According to Csaba Borsos, buyers seek high-quality, meaty animals, sought-after breeds include Wurttemberg, Ile-de-France and Suffolk.

– The agreed average weight is 45 kilograms, and we paid 450 dinars per kilogram for the lambs currently being loaded. Buyers are satisfied because this is high-quality stock – Borsos said.

As he explained, the lambs are transported by truck to Montenegro, where they are loaded onto a ship at the Port of Bar, and the voyage to Israel takes between five and six days.

Exports to Israel are part of the market expansion for the Serbian sheep farming sector. Lamb exports to Libya and Algeria also took place this year, while certificates have been harmonized and opportunities opened for sales in several other markets.

Glamocic stated that the opening of new markets had to be accompanied by the development of production, particularly in regions of Serbia with extensive pasturelands.

The state, he noted, supports sheep farming with a subsidy of 3,000 dinars per lamb and 10,000 dinars per high-quality breeding animal, while grants covering 50 to 65 percent of costs are provided for the purchase of high-quality breeding ewes and rams.

– We have room to expand this production, but there must be a guaranteed outlet for the products. That is why it is important to direct incentives where both production potential and a market exist. When a producer knows there is a buyer for what they produce, they have a reason to invest and increase the size of their herd – said Glamocic.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Ministry of Agriculture

Kontakt

Adorjan near Kanjiža

Csaba Borsos

Dragan Glamočić

lambs

export of lambs to Israel