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Chinese poultry meat will soon appear on European dinner tables after a European Union (EU) decision, effective on Tuesday, decided to lift a six-year import ban. The European Commission (EC) has released a list of nine Chinese companies, all in the eastern Shandong Province, that have been approved to export heat-treated poultry meat products to the EU.
"The EU reopened its markets to Shandong companies after four years of scrutiny. It is good news for Chinese producers and especially farmers," said an official with the Shandong provincial department of foreign trade. The official estimated that China's annual exports of heat-treated poultry products to the EU could reach 100,000 tons, equal to a market worth of 1 billion USD.
The EU examined poultry product producers in Shandong, Shanghai and the northeastern part of China over the past four years. The reopening towards Shandong companies is seen as a sign that Chinese companies will have greater market access in the future. An official with the Shandong bureau of entry-exit inspection and quarantine said authorities had made strenuous efforts to regain access to the EU market. The authorities collected EU regulations, laws and requirements that involve poultry product imports, translating them into Chinese so as to guide companies to operate accordingly in breeding, slaughter and heat treatment. The EU have carried out inspections in Shandong to check on drug residue, bird flu prevention, sanitation during heat treatment and other issues since 2004, according to the quarantine official.
"Several inspection missions carried out by the Commission's services in China have shown that the competent authorities in China, in particular in the Province of Shandong, are sufficiently well structured to deal with the animal health status of poultry," reads an EC decision dated July 30.
Full story in English
News category: China
Published on this site: Sep. 3, 2008
Source:chinadaily.com.cn
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