Thailand prepares to resume chicken meat export to EU

BANGKOK, 4 April 2012 (NNT) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand has tasked related agencies to manage the volume of chicken meat export to the European Union (EU) after the latter agreed to lift its ban on Thai poultry.

Following the recent decision by the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers of the European Commission to lift the ban on chicken meat import from Thailand, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut said Thailand will be able to export the product to the EU again from July onwards.

According to the report, the ban has been effective since January 23, 2004, following the outbreak of avian flu in Asia. As a result of the ban’s cancellation, Mr. Theera said Thailand will have an opportunity to increase its share in the global chicken market and raise incomes for Thai chicken farmers.

The Department of Livestock Development, the Ministry of Commerce and the Thai Poultry Association have been assigned to collaborate on managing the chicken export quota. It is expected that within this year Thailand will be able to export as much as 50,000 tons or 40 billion baht worth of chicken to the EU.