World meat industry news

On October 14, a ban on the import of hatching eggs from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands into Russia due to bird flu comes into force. But the deficit in Russia is not expected. Literally in a year, we were able to increase our production so much that we began to export our hatching eggs.

Rosselkhoznadzor explained this decision by the worsening situation with bird flu in European countries. According to the European ADIS system, over 4,000 avian influenza outbreaks were registered in eight months of 2022, and tens of millions of birds were killed.

In the Netherlands, new outbreaks of avian influenza are reported by the competent authority almost every day. More than 600 outbreaks have resulted in a total of 3.7 million chickens, ducks and turkeys being slaughtered in the country, according to The Guardian.

“Supplies of poultry products, including hatching eggs, from regions unfavorable for influenza carry very serious risks. The disease can be brought to Russia, which is extremely dangerous for industrial poultry farming, which covers the needs of the country, ”the Rosselkhoznadzor emphasizes.

At the same time, Russia should not be afraid of a shortage of hatching eggs. As clarified by RG in the department, up to 4 billion hatching eggs are produced in Russia per year, and only about 500 million are imported. In addition, a number of projects for the construction of new hatcheries are currently being implemented in the country. Demand for imported hatching eggs is declining by about 10% annually. For nine months, 358.6 million units were imported to Russia from 18 countries. At the end of the year, the reduction in supplies will be even greater due to the unprecedentedly difficult situation with avian influenza, the Rosselkhoznadzor predicts.

The Czech Republic and especially the Netherlands have historically been one of the largest suppliers of hatching eggs to Russia, says Albert Davleev, President of Agrifood Strategies. But today, avian influenza is indeed registered throughout Europe, with the possible exception of Spain and Portugal. The largest number of outbreaks is observed in the UK, Germany and partially the Netherlands.

This time, the Rosselkhoznadzor prohibits the import of products from the territories of entire countries, although before that, as a rule, restrictions applied to certain regions, the expert draws attention. At the same time, referring to the bird flu, the Rosselkhoznadzor leaves an exception to this ban - the SPF egg. This is a special egg that is used to make vaccines.

The logic of the department in both cases is understandable, Davleev believes. In the SPF egg, we are completely dependent on imports (and it is produced only in Western European countries), so its supply cannot be prohibited. In addition, enhanced biosecurity measures are provided for at the enterprises for its production, which excludes the introduction of infection from the outside.

As for hatching eggs, many Russian companies have long-term contracts for its supply from the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. But over the past year, import dependence in hatching eggs has significantly decreased in Russia, says Davleev. In 2020-2021, bird flu also raged in Europe, which is why our poultry industry did not have enough hatching eggs. In this regard, the government has adopted an urgent program to support and develop breeding enterprises - reproducers of the first and second order (where they receive grandparents and parents). As a result, during 2022 we have a positive egg balance for the first time.

“In 2021, against the backdrop of bird flu, we had to open alternative channels for the supply of hatching eggs, for example, from Turkey. Now this is not necessary. The funds that were spent on the construction of several dozen breeding centers in Russia made it possible to increase the production of eggs above the needs of the market,” the expert says. Now Russia itself is one of the largest suppliers of hatching eggs to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

True, for the time being, grandparents (in the form of day-old chicks) are still being imported from Western countries. In this sense, the selection and genetic state program for the creation of the Russian cross "Smena-9", which was launched simultaneously with the program for the production of hatching eggs, should help. This work also gives the first results - the cross-country performance is not inferior to that of foreign competitors, Davleev notes. But it will take 2-3 years to scale up production.