Chinese duck meat producers upbeat after new low-tariff quotas from EU

Chinese duck meat producers are upbeat about the industry's export outlook after the European Union (EU) started to grant more low-tariff quotas on Monday.

The EU agreed in November 2018 to grant more low-tariff quotas to Chinese poultry meat, including the quotas for 5,000 tonnes of chicken meat and 6,600 tonnes of duck meat, after several rounds of consultations.

A band of ducks [File photo: IC]

"Today marks a good day for us. We estimate our production capacity will increase by around 2,000 tonnes this year. We are fully prepared," said Yu Mingfu, deputy general manager of the Shandong-based Weifang Legang Food Co. Ltd., one of the largest duck meat producers in China.

The EU's new quotas will lead to higher prices of duck exports and increase the company's profits by 4 million dollars a year, he predicted.

The company will improve the standards of production to supply higher-quality duck meat, Yu said.

Hu Kui, deputy general manager of Henan Huaying Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., believes the new quotas are expected to boost the sales and international competitiveness of China's poultry industry, noting that Europe is a major market for duck meat.

Previously, China's poultry exports to the EU had been subdued for years, as the EU refused to offer significant low-tariff quotas for Chinese poultry meat after the outbreaks of bird flu in Asia between 2006 and 2008.

China filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the EU over high poultry tariffs in April 2015, putting forth a consultation request and formally starting WTO dispute settlement procedures.

In April 2017, the WTO ruled that EU's poultry tariff quota management had violated its rules. More than a year later, China and the EU reached the final agreement on the new tariff quotas.

Yu Lu, vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce, said the agreement would create a fairer trade environment for Chinese firms specialized in poultry exports, boost China's poultry exports and enrich the poultry meat supply of the EU at more favorable prices.

Industry analysts estimated that the new quotas would increase Chinese duck meat exports to more than 18,000 tonnes a year, up 50 percent from the current level.

Statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce showed that to meet the import requirements of the EU, China's poultry industry has invested a total of 2.8 billion yuan (about 417 million U.S. dollars) since last year to renovate farms and upgrade processing equipment.