World meat industry news

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Qu Dongyu noted that China is ready to import pork from the Russian ASF-free regions, provided that it is safe.

The Rosselkhoznadzor took part in the meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China on April 8, 2019 in Beijing. The event was held on the eve of the International Symposium on African swine fever prevention and control.

During the talks, the sides discussed topical issues of bilateral cooperation, including export of Russian livestock products to the Chinese market. A significant strengthening of interaction between the competent veterinary departments of the two countries was noted, which was mainly due to the opening of markets for mutual deliveries of dairy products and poultry meat.

One of the main topics of discussion was the consideration by the Chinese side of the possibility of importing Russian pig products. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Qu Dongyu noted that China is ready to import pork from the Russian ASF-free regions, provided that it is safe. The Deputy Minister also drew attention to the high demand in this commodity on the Chinese market. Advisor to the Head Artyom Daushev focused on the fact that in recent years the Russian Federation has managed to increase the volume of pork production by 2.5 times in spite of the occasionally recorded ASF outbreaks. Russia has been able to achieve this thanks to the activity of establishments with high biosecurity level which are under the Rosselkhoznadzor control. In this connection the Russian side proposed to organize another visit of Chinese specialists to attend establishments and familiarize themselves with control measures that were reviewed by the Rosselkhoznadzor in detailed materials sent in the last few years at the request of the Chinese side.

The possibility of organizing the abovementioned visit was also discussed with the representatives of the General Administration of Customs of the PRC (GACC) at the meeting in the afternoon. It is this agency that is currently responsible for allowing access of pig products to the PRC. The parties began to substantively discuss the access of Russian livestock products to the Chinese market. In particular, they talked about further actions for obtaining approval for export of pork, finished meat products, turkey offal. The parties touched upon the issues of updating and expanding the registers of establishments in Russia and China, as well as the possibility of supplying poultry and dairy products by rail. The Chinese colleagues reported on the expansion of the list of Russian establishments for ice cream supplies (it was posted today on the GACC website).

The consultations with GACC representatives will continue on April 10 on the abovesaid and other issues of bilateral cooperation.