This figure went beyond expectations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Hoang Kim Giao, head of the department told that the earlier estimated meat import volume for this year was less than last year, at 83,000 tons.

Such a high import volume has resulted from pork price hikes in June and July, which led traders to import large quantities of meat to meet local demand, said Nguyen Thanh Son, the department’s deputy head.

When pork prices stayed high in July, a spat over whether to import pork or not emerged. The Ministry of Industry and Trade wanted more pork import to stabilize the domestic market while the agriculture ministry argued the local supply was sufficient.

The Livestock Farming Department will neither issue import quotas nor restrict meat imports but will let the market regulate supply and demand, said Son. “Meat import depends on the market’s demand. We will only assign some companies to import meat when local prices turn strongly volatile.”

A large volume of hens imported from China is not included in the total meat import volume.

Son said previously, hens that are 72 weeks old were sold to Vietnam for meat but their meat was too tough, so local firms switched to importing 64-week-old hens and sell them to food stores in the northern region.