June 30, 2011

UK farm exports to China given green light

Trade talks have officially opened up the Chinese market to UK pork exports, with China also lifting a ban on UK poultry exports, the Department of Trade and Industry has announced.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Premier Wen of China have signed an agreement which will allow five processing plants to start exporting pork to China.

BPEX's international manager Peter Hardwick said that this could provide a potential boost of up to GBP40 million (US$64.4 million) a year to the UK pig industry, depending on the how trade develops.

Yorkshire-based international pig genetics company JSR Genetics has already signed a GBP1 million (US$1.61 million) deal to supply 800 breeding pigs to the Guangzhou Animal Husbandry Company in China, to stock a new breeding nucleus farm.

Business Secretary Vince Cable paved the way for the trade deal in November last year, when he signed a formal agreement on health certificates for exports of pig meat with the Chinese authorities. Since then, five plants have been inspected and approved for export.

NPA chairman Stewart Houston said, "This is wonderful news and something we have been working towards for several years. The process has been a long one, but one of the milestones was the signing of the export health certificate agreement by Business Secretary Vince Cable and ministers from the Chinese quarantine inspectorate in November last year."

Houston added that the trade deal was "much-needed" as pig prices in the UK still lagged behind the cost of production caused by continuing high feed costs and other rising input prices.

The reopening of the poultry market is estimated to be worth GBP10 million (US$16.1 million) to the UK.