June 27, 2009

 

 

The chlorinated chicken dispute between the US and the EU is making little progress, and the American poultry industry is growing more frustrated as the huge export opportunity continues slipping through the fingers.

 

Since 1996, US chickens are banned from sales in the EU because of the anti-salmonella treatments the US poultry industry used, which involves dipping carcasses in baths of chlorine or similar solutions to disinfect the meat. In addition, a EU regulation in 2004 requires meat products to be washed using potable water.

 

There were attempts to make a compromise, but they fell apart because the terms involved were unable to satisfy both sides.

 

The US government in January 2009 decided to file a complaint to the World Trade Organisation. But informal consultations have not gone well and Washington is likely to request for a formal dispute resolution panel.

 

Europe's history of blocking US poultry dated back to the 1950s through the imposing of quotas and tariffs, said Richard Loeb from the National Chicken Council.

 

But when the WTO banned that in the 1990s, Europe started using food safety measures, and France is a strong supporter of the ban even though French poultry companies use hyper-chlorination on exports to Middle Eastern countries and used to treat domestic market poultry with chlorine too, Loeb said.

 

The growing membership of the EU has also hurt US chicken exporters, as European countries that used to import US chickens had their markets shut off after they joined the EU, whose requirements the US have to comply with, Loeb said.

 

The potential export market in Europe is about US$200-US$300 million, with the supply gap left by the ban filled mainly by Brazil. In the meantime, US poultry producers have set their sights on other markets, particularly on China, Russia, Mexico and Canada.

 

While chlorination is not mandatory in the US, there was no alternative for controlling salmonella, Loeb claimed.

 

An EU official admitted that reported incidents of poultry-related salmonella poisoning are higher in Europe than in the US, but added it might be because the level of reporting is higher in Europe. In any case, both sides agree that salmonella contamination from poultry is a real problem.

 

Bill Roenigk, vice-president of the US National Chicken Council, said they do not agree with the EU's claims of the US using chlorination as a crutch to cover up poor manufacturing practices.

 

Roenigk said they need the treatment as an extra precaution, and that about 20 percent of chickens on supermarket shelves in the EU and the US have salmonella but the bacteria typically get killed when the meat is cooked.