May 12, 2004

UK To Fight For Pig And Poultry Imports
 

The British pig and poultry industries will announce initiatives to claw back some of the recent massive drop in their respective markets today.

In the past year alone, imports of pork and processed products have increased by 14 per cent to nearly 800,000 tonnes, while poultry meat imports have shot up from 170,000 tonnes to just under 500,000 tonnes in a decade.

Major suppliers of pig meat products are Denmark, the Netherlands and other EU countries. However industry sources claim a significant share comes from third countries, either directly or through other EU sources, from systems that do not meet UK minimum legal standards.

A similar situation is claimed for poultry meat imports, with Brazil and Thailand stated as the main overseas sources. This has led to complaints by the British Pig Executive (BPEX) and the British Poultry Council.

"The amount of pork produced to UK standards in supplying countries is generally low, and in some cases extremely low relative to total exports to the UK," says BPEX.

"There is a perception that the British market does not require pork and pork products produced from pigs that meet the UK legal minimum standard. And yet, consumer research clearly shows the opposite."

To hit back at imports, the pig sector is planning to use the Autofom computerised system of pig carcass assessment adopted by the breeding company JSR Healthbred and processors Geo Adams of Lincolnshire to improve productivity.