January 10, 2008

China upgrades slaughterhouses nationwide

China earmarked more than RMB500 million (US$69 million) at the end of 2007 in concerted efforts to improve pork quality by upgrading 3,279 abattoirs nationwide.

The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) reported that the pork overhaul campaign started in September 2007 which jumpstarted with the banning of around 7,740 unqualified slaughterhouses.

A total of 1,940 tonnes of pork which does not meet the specified standards, was seized by the ministry, Huang Hai, MOC assistant minister, said.

The Chinese government has formulated 10 additional pork safety regulations to ensure standardized pig slaughtering and full quality supervision.

The extensive revamp on pig slaughtering across the country came after some reports of low quality meat from China was being exported to the global market.

Meanwhile, Huang forecast that pork prices in China will continue to rise during the first half of 2008, despite an apparent surge in production, due to feed price hikes and escalating transportation costs.

Significant increases in pork, grain and cooking oil caused the consumer price index (CPI) to surge by 4.6 percent during the first 11 months of 2007.