TEHRAN The Agriculture Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce has decided to do away with tariffs on imports of wood, Agriculture Jihad Minister Mahmoud Hojjati announced, adding that the purpose is to prevent destruction of the country's forests.

Hojjati said that if adequate attention is paid to the preservation of government forests, the destructive exploitation of these natural resources would be considerably lessened.

Turning to the subject of chicken meat, he said that currently the meat is sold at Rls.14,100 per kilo. However, if the country had an efficient and cost-saving distribution system, the price would have been 12,000-12,500 per kilo, he added.

He also said that the Agriculture Ministry is ready to issue the required license to import 25 million fertilized eggs "provided the eggs are marketed not earlier than the Iranian month of Mordad, when the price of chicken is expected to reach Rls.2,900.

On the subject of wheat, he said that in the current year the government intends to purchase 7.5 million tons. Last year, the figure was 5.6 million tons.