100 Million ISK To Promote Icelandic Lamb Meat Abroad

Iceland needs to sell tonnes more lamb meat abroad to keep the market from falling, and the government will be devoting some 100 million ISK to promoting it.

RÚV reports that anywhere from 800 to 1,000 tonnes of Icelandic lamb meat must be sold on foreign markets to prevent the domestic market from suffering serious repercussions this winter and the following autumn.

As such, the budget draft from parliament calls upon the government to devote 100 million ISK to promoting Icelandic lamb in foreign markets. This spending is considered a short-term solution, and the necessity of developing a long-term strategy is emphasised in the bill.

The bill contends further that sheep farmers have been operating at a loss, despite the price for slaughter licenses being reduced. Minister of Agriculture Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson emphasised this point with reporters, saying that the spending is done to protect Icelandic sheep farmers, and to prevent the price of lamb from falling drastically.