June 11, 2007

 

Thai poultry exports to broaden on meeting UAE halal standards

 

 

Thailand plans to broaden its poultry exports to Muslim countries after ensuring its production processes meet Halal food standards, officials at the Agriculture Ministry said Friday (Jun 8).

 

Representatives from the United Arab Emirates conducted an inspection of poultry factories in Thailand to monitor their adherence to Halal food standards, according to the ministry.

 

"The visit is aimed at increasing the UAE's confidence in Thailand's ability to export poultry in accordance with Halal food standards. The majority of UAE officials are concerned over possible bird flu contamination of Thai poultry," said Somchai Channarongkul, deputy director of the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards.

 

Shipments of chicken-meat from Thailand were banned from entering the UAE in 2005 after the country introduced regulations requiring Halal certification from the UAE Municipality, comprised of the food ministry and Central Islamic Committee, according to Somchai.

 

Somchai said the UAE delegation has randomly inspected four Thai chicken processors and would notify Thai authorities of the results this month.

 

One of the processing facilities they visited was owned by Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL, Thailand's leading chicken producer and exporter.

 

"They expressed satisfaction with our system," said Suphachai Aungsupakorn, senior vice president of Charoen Pokphand's food processing and poultry business.

 

Suphachai said the UAE approval would broaden the Thai chicken market to countries in the Middle East, where poultry demand stood at around 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes per year, mostly imported from Brazil, the US and Europe.

 

According to Suphachai, expanding into the UAE market would help the company meet its poultry export target of 100,000 tonnes this year, up from about 3,000 tonnes exported last year.

 

Officials said Halal approval could be a turning point for the Thai food industry. Thai producers would have access to the large Halal market with more than 1.8 billion Muslim consumers living 185 countries worldwide.