State Veterinary Service Has Scales Other than State Customs

Dependence on imported butter officially is 50%. However, analysis of data from the State Customs Committee and counters shows that local production meets the needs of not more than one quarter.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in the first nine months of this year in Azerbaijan individual farms produced 18,000 tons of butter, which is 9% more than in the comparable period of 2013. It does not indicate the share of industrial enterprises.

Also increased imports of butter. The State Customs Committee reported on the import of this product in the amount of $ 19.7 million, which is 34.1% more than during the first 9 months of 2013.

According to the State Statistics Committee data on imports of goods within 6 months of this year, the volume of imports of butter amounted to 2,600 tons (declared at an average of $ 3.7 per kg.) The majority of imports (1 689.6 tons) accounted for New Zealand.

It should be emphasized that the reports by the State Statistics Committee (SSC) and State Customs Committee (SCC) in terms of imports and balance of butter do not match. Thus, the SCC reports on import of not more than 8,300 tons of butter in 2013, and so on oils obtained by processing milk. According to the same data from the SSC, the figure is 21 644 tons. However, when calculating the balance of butter consumption the data of the State Veterinary Service (SVS) of the Ministry of Agriculture is taken into account. The fact is that, unlike other structures, it reflects more accurate information on the volume of imports of animal products, as it gives them the veterinary certificate.

The leading industrial producers of butter in the country are LLC Atena, LLC Seba and others. The average retail price of a kilogram of butter is 6.5 manat. --08B--