FBA Issue 12: January / February 2007

  
Leanback: Trade, technology and trends in poultry

  

Bird flu has ravaged poultry exports in some countries like Thailand, most notably. Will it continue to be the biggest hindrance to global trade in poultry?

When you talk about bird flu, developed countries get hit just as badly as the less developed countries. Thailand has been hit with fresh meat export bans but most of its genetic material comes from the US and the UK. As soon as one bird has a problem in any of those countries, the rest of the countries prohibit imports, so it actually works both ways, i.e. breeders in the UK and US are also affected.

 

But I really don't see bird flu as being anything more than an excuse for trade barriers. It has so far been an automatic emotional response: people just don't want to eat from an area that's affected.

 

Is this just another excuse then to restrict market access? I mean, developed and less developed nations seem to play this 'game' where they offer subsidies to local producers or raise tariff barriers to protect the domestic industry.

You could say that, in a way. For poultry, it's easy to put on tariff barriers. For example, Europe will not import from the US because the Europeans say the Americans put too much chlorine in the water. The US, in turn, doesn't import from anywhere, given Newcastle disease. Brazil also does not import.

 

It's telling that major poultry exporters like Thailand, the USA and Brazil do not import any poultry. Europe does import quite a lot. In fact, it needs to because it's just not able to produce the amount of breast meat required to feed that region. They only export the part of the chicken its own consumers do not want to eat; likewise for the USA.

 

The subsidies on exports have declined significantly over time. Yes, poultry is an issue in the imposition of quotas but this has so far been more directed against Brazil, which has huge production capacity.

 

As a consultant for poultry projects, tell us how the bird flu crisis has affected your work in one way or another.

Bird flu has reduced production by one billion tonnes but there're still 70 million tonnes being eaten and that needs to be produced in an efficient way. Modern technology is increasingly enabling producers to do this. Trade has been hit but there are still 7 million tonnes (of poultry) being traded. While trade volumes have been reduced--and yes, this has been unfortunate for certain regions and countries--I personally find that I've more work to do when there are problems!

 

I analyse the consequences of bird flu from the economic standpoint. For instance, I show the economic consequences of using new technology, what this means in terms of savings, economies, the effect on the bottom-line, and what marketing strategies should be considered. My aim now is to actually help people save money.

 

 

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