The UK has been given the green light to ship pork products to China, AHDB has announced, following a successful inspection by Chinese authorities and following last August’s agreement between the two countries over market access for pork products.
One of the country’s largest food producers has received official notification to start supplying pigs’ trotters, following a successful inspection by Chinese authorities, while two further facilities in Northern Ireland have also received the first ever approval to export all cuts of pork, including trotters.
China has been identified by the levy body as a ‘very high’ potential market for UK pig meat exports and is already the UK’s biggest customer aside the EU, importing 40,000 tonnes of UK pork and 36,000 tonnes of UK offal in 2016.
According to AHDB, there is particular benefit to the industry in exporting the so-called ‘fifth quarter’ - products that have limited value in the UK, but are prized in the Chinese market.
The announcement comes after a lengthy process of technical negotiations led by AHDB, in collaboration with Defra, FSA, UKECL and the wider industry, to demonstrate equivalence of animal health and hygiene standards.
Dr Phil Hadley, international market development director, said: “I am delighted that we have secured this latest opportunity in what has been a long-term project involving collaboration across industry and government.
“This is a significant step forward in our ambitions for China and stands to have a huge impact on the whole supply chain.”
Mike Sheldon, chair of the AHDB Pork board, said: “I welcome today’s announcement, this is a fantastic opportunity for the industry to tap into one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.This news bears testament to the high standards, quality and safety of UK pork production.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
