Chicken legs from the US have made a comeback in Jordan after the latter scrapped a packaging norm.
The rule that restricted the weight of chicken leg packs to 2.5kg, has been relaxed to allow up to 15kg.
The Middle Eastern country caters to 90% of its requirements through domestic poultry production, while imports from Brazil and the US contribute to the rest, Jordan's Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Nimer Haddadin told the Bloomberg.
Sales of chicken products from the US have been hit hard since 2010 after the Jordanian Government mandated in September that packages shouldn't exceed 2.5kg.
Jordan's rule was aimed at guarding its own poultry sector. Also, there was an apprehension that food safety was being comprised while repackaging the bigger packages into smaller ones.
Such a regulation earned the wrath of the US Government for reportedly being in breach of commitments under World Trade Organization and Jordan-U.S. free trade agreements.
Brazil rushed in its poultry products in line with the requirements and reaped gains while such a face-off was on between the US and Jordan.
It was in March that Jordan annulled the norm and gave nod to packages weighing up to 15kg for food processing.
Consequently, Jordan's import of frozen chicken legs from the US stood at 2,911.2 metric tons in April, the highest since June 2011, as per the US Department of Agriculture figures.
Jordan Foodstuff Traders Association vice-president Khaldoun Aqqad said: "At first our imports rose sharply from Brazil because the US couldn't meet the new rules.
"Now this will greatly help increase our imports from the US."
Image: The US sold more than 2,900 tons of frozen chicken legs to Jordan in April. Photo: courtesy of Antpkr / Freedigitalphotos.net.
