Sanctions are planned for those who violate the prohibitions
China has prohibited the importation of Spain poultry products due to high pathogenicity aviary outbreaks, suspending exports planned under an agreement in April to open the Chinese market to Spanish producers.
In a statement, the China’s General Customs Administration indicated that the decision aims to “prevent the spread of the disease and protect the safety and biosecurity of national cattle.”
Since August 7, direct and indirect imports of poultry and derivatives are prohibited, including processed.
The measures also provide for treatment, under customs supervision of all animal or agricultural waste that reach Chinese territory in any means of transport from Spain, as well as sanctions for those who violate the prohibitions.
For now, a deadline for the end of the restrictions, similar to those imposed in May to Brazilian chicken imports, also due to aviary flu has not been settled in May.
In April, the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Plan, and China’s deputy minister of customs, Lu Weihong, signed a new export protocol that would allow Spanish poultry producers to access the Asian country to diversify foreign sales.
At the time, the Spanish ministry stressed that China “is a large buyer of bird meat and other products with reduced placement capacity in other markets.”
The same entity recalled that since June 2018, the two countries have signed 11 protocols for the opening of the Chinese market to Spanish agri -food products, the latest pork and cherry meat.
In 2024, Spain exported to China agri -food products worth 1.864 million euros, registering a positive commercial balance of 253 million euros.
