November 30, 2006

US-China poultry trade goes bilateral

US approval of processed chicken products from China in May this year has signified that poultry trade between the two countries has gone bilateral.

Earlier in May this year, the Food Safety Inspection System of the USDA approved China's processed chicken products to be exported to the US, according to US Poultry & Egg Export Council Beijing representative Hu Ji Jun.

US exports of poultry products to China have been growing since the 1990s and China has become one of US' largest market for poultry products, Hu said. 

Each year, China imports more than 400,000 tonnes of poultry products from the US, most of it chicken feet, chicken wings, drumsticks and small quantities of turkey products.

Based on Customs statistics for the past 5 years, China's import of poultry products are between 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes a year, with poultry from the US accounting for 70 to 80 percent of them.