Poultry Management

Chinese poultry meat will soon appear on the tables under a European Union (EU) decision, effective from Tuesday to lift the import ban of six years.

The European Commission (EC) has published a list of nine Chinese companies, all in the eastern province of Shandong, which have been approved for export thermal treatment of meat products from poultry to the EU.

"The EU reopened its markets to Shandong companies after four years of control. It is good news for Chinese producers and especially farmers," said an official with the Shandong provincial department of foreign trade.

The official estimated that annual exports to China of heat-treated poultry products to the EU could reach 100,000 tons of 1 billion.

The European Union considered the poultry producers in Shandong, Shanghai and the northeastern part of China during the past four years. The reopening of Shandong companies is seen as a sign that Chinese companies will have better access to markets in the future.

An official with the Office of Inspection, Shandong Entry-Exit and Quarantine said the authorities had made considerable efforts to regain access to European market.

The authorities collected EU regulations, laws and requirements that involve the import of poultry products, bring them to guide Chinese companies to operate accordingly in breeding, slaughter and heat treatment .

The EU carried out inspections in Shandong to check for drug residue, bird flu prevention, sanitation during heat treatment and other issues since 2004, according to the official quarantine.

"Several inspection missions carried out by the Commission services in China have shown that the competent authorities in China, especially in Shandong Province, are sufficiently structured to meet the health status of poultry," reads a decision EC dated July 30.

The EU banned imports of Chinese poultry meat following the outbreak of avian flu on the Chinese mainland in 2004.

"Now, we can detect one drop of nitrofuran in a full pool," said control manager Lu Yongsheng of Xinchang Quality Meat Co., Ltd., one of nine companies Shandong. Lu company has invested heavily to upgrade detection instruments.

Xinchang puts a code on each package of its products, which contains information on production date, place of origin and codes of slaughterhouses and farms, enabling the company to establish a specific link in case of problems.

Xinchang sends drugs to national labs for chemical examination before they are used and keeps the drug packages for at least three years.

The EU is a major consumer markets for poultry meat with a total annual import of 700,000 tons.

Shandong exported 430 million U.S. dollars the value of poultry meat last year, representing half the national average. Its exports of poultry meat heat treated, valued at $ 330 dollars last year, represents 60 percent of exports.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, China registered a deficit of 7.57 billion dollars in foreign trade in agricultural products in the first five months of this year, 14.3 times more than a year earlier.