From EU self-sufficient poultry products, there is no need for imports of dubious origin

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At the same time, the difficulties that arose pointed out the importance of self-sufficiency in the European Union, which must be preserved despite all challenges. The National Chamber of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Poultry Product Council, does everything at home and internationally to represent the interests of the Hungarian poultry sector and the safety of domestic consumers. The organization of the poultry sector in Hungary is at a high level, so it is less exposed to external challenges compared to other livestock sectors. The epidemics of the past years – human and animal epidemics – as well as economic and political events, despite the high level of organization, took a heavy toll on the sector, the changes in many areas disintegrated the previously well-established sales chains, causing serious damage to the actors – said the World Poultry Day at a conference organized on the occasion of Attila Csorbai, the president of the Poultry Product Council, said: the poultry sector of our country is the largest animal product sector and one of the most important export-oriented players in domestic agriculture (the level of self-sufficiency is 140-160%). The sector is faced with a serious challenge due to bird flu, production and trade have become more unpredictable due to the epidemic, which is further complicated by imports that often flow in without inspection.

In domestic protection against the disease, strict and consistent compliance with the epidemic prevention regulations is essential, but there is indisputably an increasing interest from all over the world in the “live” French vaccine trial in production

Second in the world, a specialized working group performed background calculations in order to be fully aware of the capacity and resource requirements of this defense solution, as well as the application possibilities in each product line. Regarding the use of the vaccine, there is a huge divide between the individual countries, as its use can seriously affect the export markets. According to the president of the BTT, the situation of the poultry sector was further worsened by the fact that the weakening purchasing power parallel to the strengthening of inflation encouraged the commercial chains to take over their products from suppliers at the lowest possible prices, which is why the proportion of imported products increased significantly in some product lines. For example, a significant amount of Ukrainian goods appeared on the European chicken meat market, which proved to be risky not only for the EU (and therefore domestic) poultry sector, but also for consumers. Just think of the recent salmonella contamination scandal of products of Ukrainian origin, which also claimed a fatality in Great Britain. – It is an undoubted fact that poultry meat is one of the most popular sources of protein in the world, and according to experts, the demand for it will continue to rise – emphasized Balázs Győrffy, the president of the National Chamber of Agriculture, who, however, believes that we must deal with sales anomalies. It does not matter from which source the demand/needs are met. The EU’s self-sufficiency in poultry meat and eggs has been abundantly ensured for a long time, yet imports of both product groups from third countries have increased drastically in the recent period. More than a quarter of imported poultry, including chicken meat, arriving in the EU comes from Ukraine. And with the extension of the Ukrainian trade agreements for another year, this value will increase to a third. The fact that 35,000 to 36,000 tons of pre-fried Peking ducks have recently entered the community from China, but it is not known what food safety parameters they have, or who checks them and how they are checked upon entering the EU.

According to the experts speaking at the conference, the EU’s agricultural trade policy will be a determining factor among the challenges affecting agriculture

While the internal regulations are constantly becoming stricter – animal protection, environmental protection, AMR, food safety – products from third countries are allowed into the community without complying with EU norms. All of this puts European producers at an unbearable competitive disadvantage. Foods produced using technologies, medicinal and disinfectants banned in the Union, and which can be called poorer from an animal welfare point of view, cause serious damage to the actors of the product paths and are also risky from the point of view of the health of consumers. In the long term, the process also threatens food security. – The past few years have taught him the importance of self-sufficiency through a hard lesson. From what we have, where our capabilities allow, we must strive for self-preservation as much as possible, to minimize any kind of vulnerability, and to further improve our export indicators. Balázs Győrffy pointed out that the self-sufficiency level of poultry meat in the Union, which has been between 109-114% for the last 10 years, must not be lost, it must be preserved. To this end, it is necessary to make professionally informed decisions. The National Chamber of Agriculture – in cooperation with the Poultry Council – is doing everything it can to represent the interests of the Hungarian poultry sector and the safety of domestic consumers, both domestically and internationally.

NAK