WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — The new implementation period for a law on poultry feeding which would impact the Turkish poultry sector was going to start on Jan. 1, as reported in the Dec. 28, 2015, GAIN Report “New Rules by Turkish government on Poultry Feed Restrictions,” but it has now been postponed for one year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) reported on Jan. 7.

This law will now come into force Jan. 1, 2017. The poultry sector is still concerned that if the use of poultry by-products as feed is not allowed, they won’t be able to import a sufficient amount of soybeans as a substitute because of Turkey’s current biosafety legislation.

Turkish poultry sector representatives had petitioned the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MinFAL) to postpone this implementation for 10 years; otherwise the poultry sector would have to import more feedstuffs in order to meet feeding needs. Importing feed to Turkey is very difficult because of Turkey’s Biosafety legislation. MinFAL was decisive that they planned to implement this rule as of Jan. 1, 2016, and so it was unexpected that they decided to postpone implementation again. The ministry did not inform the sector regarding the additional year extension before the amended legislation was published in the Official Journal.

The Turkish Poultry sector said it is pleased with the new amended legislation since it was not ready to implement the ban in 2016. According to poultry sector representatives, 300,000 tonnes of feedstuffs were produced from poultry by-products in 2014, with 230,000 tonnes produced from poultry meal (meat and blood meal) and 70,000 tonnes from animal fats.

The sector estimates that if it is unable to feed poultry by-products, Turkey will need to import 400,000-500,000 tonnes more soybeans, 30,000 tonnes of Di Calcium Phosphate, and 80,000 tonnes of fats to meet feed needs. Turkey is import-dependent for plant-based protein for animal feed. Turkey imported 2.6 million tonnes of soybeans and soybean meal in 2014.

In addition, even with the additional one-year extension, the poultry sector remains concerned over the 2017 implementation of the ban, particularly regarding the sector`s possible economic losses in operations and its difficulties importing feed due to government policies, the FAS report said.
It believes that MinFAL should take some measures to help the sector to prevent these possible losses. The measures should be to change Turkey’s biosafety legislation so the sector can meet its feed needs through imports. The disposal of poultry by-products is also an issue of concern and the sector would like the government to prepare incineration facilities for the waste. There is still uncertainty and concern among producers as to how these new poultry feeding restrictions will impact the industry, the FAS report said.