April 8, 2004

Macao Resumes Normal Imports Of China Poultry
 

Macao's import of live and frozen poultry products from Chinese mainland has gradually come back to normal after a suspension and an ensuing resumption of the import on a smaller scale since the beginning of the year.

The Macao Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau said Thursday that Macao has imported 110,000 live chickens and 110 tons of frozen poultry products from the mainland via its land checkpoint neighboring Zhuhai City in south China's Guangdong Province since it resumed the imports from the mainland on March 5.

There has been a strong market demand for poultry products in the special administrative region (SAR) following a month long suspension of the imports over bird-flu scare earlier this year.

The Customs has facilitated the customs declaration of the imports and provided timely and efficient services of quarantine checks to ensure a fast and smooth poultry import.

Live chickens destined to Macao are mainly supplied by Zhuhai and Guangzhou in Guangdong, which now averaged at 7,000 heads per day.

Macao still maintains strict poultry quarantine checks. Imported live poultry that are not sold out during the day of import are mandated to be slaughtered before poultrymen close business in the evening so that they can later only be sold as frozen chicken meat.