CONFERENCE REPOR ▶▶▶T
Concerns about trade issues but outlook positive
Avec’s Annual General Assembly was permeated by the major concerns of the European poultry sector surrounding the trade agreement between the Mercosur countries and the European Union. Poultry producers also looked to the future of the European industry. On the whole, the outlook for poultry seems positive.
T BY KIRSTEN GRAUMANS
he influx of poultrymeat from South America under the new Mercosur trade agreement will cost Euro- pean poultry producers about six million birds a week that they can no longer produce for the do-
mestic market. This is how Mercosur will affect the industry, said Avec’s president Paul Lopez during the recent Annual General Assembly of European poultry producers affiliated with Avec. This figure amounts to the combined production of the Nordic countries, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. “Every two filets imported into the EU means one less chicken in Europe.” Over 200 participants – all major stakeholders in the European poultry industry – gathered at the Avec conference in Hungary’s capital Budapest. During the meeting, the theme of which was The Future of Food, Lopez made it very clear that Mercosur is a threat. In June 2019, the EU finally concluded a trade agreement that had been in negotiation for many years with the South Amer- ican countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Part of the agreement provides for an additional quota of 180,000 tonnes of poultrymeat for the Mercosur bloc. Accord- ing to Lopez: “90,000 bone in equals 64 million chickens, while 90,000 bone out equals 236 million chickens”. He de- scribed the agreement as unacceptable. “Mercosur might be a good deal [for the EU], but it certainly isn’t for the European poultry sector. Poultry has been traded-off for market access by the European automotive and chemical industries in South America.” President Lopez also pointed out that European poultry will be far more affected than other meat sectors as Europe already imports three times more poultrymeat than beef, while pork exports are 45 times smaller. “We cannot accept that the European Commission has given away the
16 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 9, 2019
entire growth in domestic consumption to third countries,” Lopez stated, who added that while the Commission says that imports will have to meet European standards, there are major differences. In reality producers in South America are allowed to use genetically-modified feed ingredients, pro- cessed animal proteins and antibiotics (even as a growth promoter) that are not allowed in the EU. The European poultry producers asked the European Commis- sion – represented at the assembly by the DG Sante (Health and Food Safety) head of the Food Hygiene unit, Eric Théve- nard – for its support. “We need funds to deal with these addi- tional imports, we need help from the Commission to gain ac- cess to the Chinese market and we need more controls at the border on poultrymeat imports. Not just on paper but actual lab tests to verify the quality of imported products,” was Lopez request on behalf of the European poultry industry. “And we need to retain the trust of European consumers. For that we need clear labelling of all poultrymeat intended for consump- tion. Processed products as well as meat that’s consumed at home and in restaurants or canteens.” Producers would like to see labels indicating either EU or non-EU origin. In response to direct questions on imports from the Ukraine and border controls Eric Thévenard replied that he had heard what had been said. As a representative of DG Sante he could only talk about food hygiene. “But I will take your message to the Commission,” he replied to Dutch representative Gert Jan Oplaat, who had expressed concerns that the Ukraine might be playing with the EU in terms of ratifying the new agree- ment (an agreement that is intended to close the loophole in the trade agreement between the EU and the Ukraine). He also intimated that the Ukraine might close its borders to European MDM meat. Although trade concerns were something of a dark cloud hanging over the assembly, the overall tone was far from pessimistic. While there are some serious concerns on trade matters – apart from Mercosur and the Ukraine, the Brexit fallout is also looming – it was clear that there are also major opportunities for poultrymeat when it comes to the future of food. Dr. István Nagy, the minister of agriculture of the host country Hungary, thanked European poultry producers for putting their products on the table. “There’s a growing de- mand in the world for the product you are producing.” He highlighted the growth in Hungarian poultry production. The
PHOTO: MICHEL ZOETER
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