August 5, 2008

Brazil has sealed a deal to export unprocessed poultry to India, with shipment potentially reaching 300,000 tonnes in the first year, according to the Brazilian Association of Chicken Producers and Exporters (ABEF).
 

The deal could allow India to become the largest importer of Brazilian chicken, surpassing Russia which imported 194,000 tonnes of the product last year.

Francisco Turra, president of ABEF, said 300,000 tonnes represent 10 percent of total export volume.

Brazil's agriculture ministry said India is a potentially huge market for Brazilian chicken since most of its more than 1 billion people are Hindu and do not eat beef.

The ministry said India's need to import poultry had increased after a serious bird flu outbreak forced the Indian government to cull more than a million chickens in the past few years.