August 24, 2011

 

UK sells pigs to China

 

 

After five years of negotiation, a deal was finally completed for the UK to send pigs to China, an idea that ranks up there with sending coals to Newcastle and snow to the Eskimos.

 

China already raises half of all the pigs in the world and the Chinese word "meat" is automatically understood to mean pork unless a different animal is specified.

 

But selling coals to Newcastle was a profitable enterprise for Timothy Dexter in the 17th century and again for the American National Coal Association in the 1990s.

 

And selling pigs to China-live piglets, as well as the trotters, ears and snouts so favoured by Chinese-could significantly help the UK's agriculture industry. An agreement signed last November is worth GBP45 million (US$74.21 million) over the next five years, according to the Government.

 

"In terms of overall exports, it is a pin prick but for the companies in this sector in the UK, it is hugely important," said Stephen Philips of the China Britain Business Council. "We have signed several million pounds worth of deals so far," said Dominic Stanton at the British Embassy in Beijing. "And we have more lined up.

 

"The Chinese are keen to accelerate the modernisation of their agriculture and British pigs need one-third less feed, produce half as much manure and need much less land. They also have more live births in a litter."

 

ACMC and JSR Genetics, pig breeders based in Driffield in East Yorkshire, have been the two main beneficiaries of the deals, which have seen 800 pigs sent over so far.

 

In order to take advantage of the Asian market, some British farms are setting up in south-east Asia, a move that also offers them a hedge if the UK is hit by another wave of disease.

 

Other British companies, meanwhile, are helping the Chinese improve their yields of soft fruits and modifying crops to be more drought-resistant. "The biggest concern in China is how can farming be more profitable so that people stay on the land," said Dr Nigel Kerby, the head of Mylnefield Research Services in Scotland. "In poor areas, they want to know how can they grow high value crops."

 

After 50 years of collectivised farming in China, there has been little incentive to improve yields. But as more and more Chinese move to cities, leaving only the elderly to farm the land, the country faces a problem keeping up with the expanding appetites of its people.

 

With a thinning supply of food, and rising prices, a wave of food safety scandals has emerged in the past few years as farmers try to maximise their profits by using additives such as melamine in milk and clenbuterol in pork.

 

"The universities of Nottingham and Liverpool are doing animal traceability, tracking and tagging work," said Stanton. Meanwhile, UK firms have also set up quality testing laboratories.