“The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China has authorized supplies of Russian pork. The decision was made based on the results of an assessment of risks and the Russian disease control strategy for African swine fever (ASF),” the service said in a statement.
The restrictions on the imports of Russian pork previously established by Announcement No. 125 of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine together with the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China in 2008 are no longer valid, the Rosselkhoznadzor’s officials said.
The Rosselkhoznadzor also said that inspection and quarantine requirements for Russian pork supplies will be established by the General Administration of Customs of China.
“It took 10 years of large-scale effort to reach agreement on supplies of pig products to the Chinese market (since 2013)”, said the representative service. They also noted that it was a multi-stage process, which included negotiations involving bilateral working groups and visits of Chinese representatives to Russia with the opportunity to estimate the Russian national pig products safety control system, disease prevention practices, as well as diagnostic and control procedures preventing the ASF spread. They were also informed of the activities of Rosselkhoznadzor’s scientific institutions and laboratories, which provided comprehensive information requested by GTU.
As the National Union of Pig Breeders repeatedly said, the significant increase in Russian pork exports is possible only after the Chinese market is opened.
In the first six months of the current year, Russian pork exports exceeded 74,000 tons of pork and pork offals, which is 57% more than in the same period of the previous year (excluding supplies within the Eurasian Economic Union). According to the forecast of the National Union of Pig Breeders, if the current trend remains unchanged, Russian exports could reach 220,000 – 230,000 tons ($500 million), which will be a record result for the industry.
