85 % of Algerian leather smuggled to abroad

Leather industry in Algeria noticed a large setback during the last 20 years because of chaotic exploitation of livestock and openness of the foreign trade sector and the adoption of traditional methods in the exploitation and expansion of the smuggling of cattle and raw leather, Spokesman of the Union of Algerian Traders and Craftsmen, Taher Boulenouar said.

“Number of sacrificial animals on the occasion of Eid al-Adha reached approximately 4 million heads of sheep, cows, goats and camels. 80% of sacrificial animals in Algeria are sheep and goats, and 20% of cattle and camels”, he added.

“Algeria has 25 million sheep and 3.5 million heads of cattle and two million goats, in addition to 800 thousand camels, and the main production areas for sheep and goats are located between the high plateaus in the central region of the country stretching from the Tunisian borders to the Moroccan borders, with some areas in the north, while camel breeding is located in areas of the desert, which sits on an area of ​​2 million km2 of ​​the country, estimated at 2,374 km 2.”

“Exploitation of livestock is done in very traditional ways, especially in the aspect of derivative industries, including milk, cheese and leather industry, which suffered a lot during the last 20 years”.

“Number of cattle that are slaughtered annually in Algeria ranges between 12 and 15 million heads, while only 15% of the wealth that is locally produced is exploited in the leather industry against the smuggling of 85% to abroad via parallel networks”.