July 21, 2006

Brazilian state to focus on alternative markets after poultry ban

Poultry producers from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul are looking towards markets like the European Union and China in an effort to ensure continued sales after the total or partial ban from nearly 40 countries.

The bans resulted from of a case of the Newcastle disease in the state, which authorities say has been brought under control.

The bans enable the state to direct a greater volume to the European Union and strengthen negotiations with China and the Asian market, said the secretary-general at the Aviculture Association of Rio Grande do Sul (Asgav), Eduardo Santos.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, the countries that have imposed full or partial bans include Russia, Ukraine, Japan, South Africa, Canada, South Korea, as well as some EU countries.

Most of the countries only have restrictions on chickens produced in the region where the disease occurred. Countries have imposed a ban on zones from a radius of 10 to 50 kilometres. For instance, the EU only restricted the area to a radius of 10 kilometres around the area where the disease was identified.

According to the head of Inspection and Animal Sanitary Defence at the Agriculture Secretariat in Rio Grande do Sul, Fernando Grossi, the property where the disease was identified was a subsistence ranch which bred chickens for their own consumption. All 44 birds in the ranch were culled.

Grossi stressed that the immediate surrounding region has no commercial production farms and does not lie along the routes of migratory birds.

Rio Grande do Sul is the third largest poultry producer and exporter in Brazil, next to Paran¨¢ and Santa Catarina. According to Santos, the poultry export sector represents 4.8 percent of the state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). More than half the chicken produced in the state is exported.

The Middle East, a major market, accounted for a quarter of the state's sales.