Dubai, Sep 3 (IANS) A severe shortage of Indian mutton has hit hard consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The shortage is the result of a ban on exports of mutton imposed by India last month,.

"The ban came into affect Aug 21 and was issued following advice from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which indicated that Indian meat should not be exported as a precaution apparently against foot-and-mouth disease," the Gulf News quoted sources in the Indian embassy in UAE as saying.

The UAE imports around 20 tonnes or $80,000 worth of Indian meat daily.

According to the newspaper, butchers in this Gulf nation are being flooded with calls from Indian expatriates asking for Indian mutton.

Indian expatriates prefer Indian mutton and do not go for Australian or European mutton because of the smell -- and hence the crisis.

They feel that Australian sheep are very fatty and the meat is not as tender.

"We have to compromise," a manager at a butcher's shop in Sharjah told the newspaper, adding that he was now selling mutton from local sheep instead.

If not Indian, expatriates also buy Ethiopian or Somali mutton. But that too is now in shortage.

"This is the last plate of Somali mutton chops," an employee at a butcher's shop in the Safa locality in Dubai said.

While Indian mutton sold at 19.50 dirhams (Dh) per kg before the shortage, Australian mutton sells for Dh 35 a kg and Somali mutton Dh 23 per kg.

A Pakistani butcher said Pakistani expatriates also prefer Indian mutton. "Pakistan mutton is very expensive to import," he told the newspaper.

The ban is slowly affecting Indian and Pakistani restaurants too.

"Normally we purchase 200 Indian sheep carcasses for our restaurants every single day," Ayaz Farook, managing director of the Karachi Darbar in Dubai, was quoted as saying.

"We are all right for the next couple of months, as our restaurants have stock. However, if the ban (continues), it will be a problem."

Apart from mutton, the ban on exports also includes Indian buffalo meat, both fresh and chilled.

According to Gulf News, a meeting to resolve the issue is being convened by the Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Sep 5.