AI expert to headline IPC meeting in China

Dr David Swayne, a respected expert on avian influenza, will be among the speakers at the International Poultry Council’s second semester meeting scheduled for Sept. 2-4 in Xi’an, China.

Swayne is director of the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Southeastern Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Ga., where scientists study exotic and emerging poultry diseases such as avian influenza. He will give a presentation on the global spread of highly pathogenic AI and its impact on the world’s poultry industry.

Joining Swayne on the program will be Christophe Gottar, executive director, global poultry, for Sealed Air (France), a major supplier of packaging materials for the international poultry industry. Gottar will give summary of a research project on food safety conducted at Beijing Agricultural University.

Challenges in poultry sector

Other speakers will give presentations on the retail and e-commerce food sectors in China, the demands and challenges facing poultry genetics companies caused by AI trade restrictions, and how primary poultry breeders serve the needs of emerging markets around the world. Representatives of the Chinese government and the poultry industry will also be on the program.

Host organization for the meeting is the China Chamber of Commerce for Foodstuffs and Native Produce.