The Diplomat
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, met yesterday in Beijing with the Minister of the General Administration of Customs of China, Yu Jianhua, with the aim of expediting the negotiation of the protocols for the opening of the Chinese market to export of new meat products and other Spanish products of animal origin.
As reported by the Ministry in a press release, China is a strategic market for Spanish agri-food companies with great development potential. Currently it is the first market on the Asian continent for the agricultural sector.
During the meeting, the minister highlighted the intense work being carried out in Spain to improve the conditions of access to the Chinese pork market, taking into account the great interest of consumers. In fact, China is the first destination for this product, with a total of 584,000 tons in 2023. Therefore, the Ministry considers it a priority to advance on the issues that are still pending to facilitate exports of pork products.
Likewise, Planas expressed his confidence that the Chinese authorities will advance the work that will allow the beef protocol to be concluded. In this sense, he recalled the recent agreement reached between both countries, in February of this year, through which China lifted the embargo on Spanish beef, which dated back to the “mad cow” crisis at the beginning of this century.
In this regard, the minister assured that Spain maintains one of the “highest” health, hygiene and quality standards in the world, which includes surveillance and control systems for animal diseases, such as bluetongue.
Regarding the export of poultry products, the minister hopes that the new certificate for avian genetics can be closed quickly and the information for a new questionnaire, which the Chinese authorities sent last week, can be updated and an agreement on the protocol can be closed. for poultry meat. Negotiations with China have resumed following the declaration of Spain as a country free of avian flu by the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO), and the decision of the Chinese authorities to lift restrictions due to this disease on 14 December. May.
The minister also explained to the Chinese head of customs and foreign health the great effort made in Spain and by the Chinese authorities to advance the achievement of a protocol for the export of sheep meat and unwashed wool. Once the sheeppox disease has been eradicated in Spain, in November 2023, the minister is committed to restoring normality in the negotiations of these protocols as soon as possible, since there is great interest in both countries in resuming this trade.
In addition to these issues, Planas expressed the clear political will of the Government of Spain to advance various protocols in the fishing and aquaculture sector.
Both ministers called on their respective teams to resume technical contacts as soon as possible to advance the necessary work to conclude the formalization of the protocols that are in the negotiation phase, so that exports of the affected products can begin. the shortest possible period.
