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Fresh-meat shipments could resume soon
WALAILAK KEERATIPIPATPONG
Teerasak: Foreigners
keen to buy again |
Thai chicken processors and exporters expressed confidence that a biosecurity farming system, or compartmentalisation, will encourage major buyers from Japan and the European Union to resume imports of fresh chicken meat after a long break following the bird flu virus outbreak in 2004.
The Livestock Development Department will distribute a proposal on compartmentalisation of Thai chicken farming to six major importers next month: the EU, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Thai and Japanese officials are expected to discuss the proposal at their next follow-up meeting on the JTEPA (Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement) in Bangkok in two months.
The department has also invited EU authorities to inspect the system, with the union considering draft regulations to adopt the new farming structure.
Teerasak Urunanon, executive vice-president of Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), said the system ensured the standard of quality of chickens raised under the compartment structure, which follows the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The system requires biosecurity management, more effective surveillance against disease, better control of outbreaks at farms and buffer zones one kilometre away from detected spots, and traceability in all production stages.
In 2006, the OIE and the Livestock Development Department chose farms of CPF as a pilot project and another 21 chicken processors were encouraged to start the new farming method.
According to Mr Teerasak, CPF's compartments in Nakhon Ratchasima, covering 15 farms, were the first batch to receive certification from the department in May. He expects that all 39 compartments, covering 123 CPF farms, would be certified by year-end.
Restarting raw chicken exports would bolster Thailand's economy because of the high demand from foreign buyers.
The bird flu outbreak in 2004 cost the export community billions. Thai raw chicken meat generated 27 billion baht in export income from 484,000 tonnes in 2003, mainly to Japan and the EU.
Volume plunged to nearly zero a year later and Thailand has been able to export only heat-treated products since then. Cooked semi-processed meat exports are projected at 345,000 tonnes this year.
Only Brazil and China are major fresh chicken sellers now but current high food prices have prompted importers to eye Thailand again.
''Our clients are eager to resume the imports (of raw chicken) but the decision rests on talks between governments,'' said Mr Teerasak.
He said foreign buyers were very strict on product standards and his big importers, such as UK-based Tesco, always make two or three inspections a year to the Thai plants.
The export of fresh meat would help absorb the local oversupply situation, in which about 19 million birds have been produced each week, from 12-13 million chickens a few years ago. He was afraid that local farmers, with a combined 2-3 million birds, might not be able to survive in the business due to the soaring prices of feed.
Stemming from expensive feed, the export prices of processed and semi-finished chicken in global market have shot up substantially this year. According to Mr Teerasak, prices in Japan were US$5,000 to $5,500 per tonne, up from $3,000 to $4,000 last year.
To prevent risk from fluctuating export prices, the company has dropped multiple-month advance sales and taken only one or two months in advance. CPF plans to sell 100,000 tonnes of processed chicken this year, of which 90,000 tonnes are exported.
Virote Kumpeera, senior executive vice-president of CPF, said maize prices have increased significantly to between 11 and 11.50 baht a kilogramme today, up from an average of 8 baht last year and 5 baht in 2006, following more demand for fuel crops in the global market.
It plans to invest 100 million baht to build silos and dryers in Laos to supply maize for the Thai operation.
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