Belarus to expand its poultry export to the EU

Belarus is looking to expand its export of poultry meat to the EU. Negotiations are currently underway, EU experts have conducted the first inspection of the domestic food safety system regulating the production of poultry meat meant for the EU market.

Belarus has submitted a request for the second inspection by experts from the Directorate General for Health and Consumers of the European Commission.

120,000 tonnes of poultry meat

At this moment, the bulk of Belarus’ agricultural production is sold in Russia. However, Belarus does not want to be so dependant on the Russian market and is looking for new markets. In 2014 Belarus exported 120,000 tonnes of poultry meat, which is 14% more than in 2013. About 105,000 tonnes of poultry was exported to Russia.

Most promising new markets are CIS member states

“From the economic point of view, the most promising new markets for Belarusian meat and dairy producers are the markets of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) member states, as Belarus has a free trade zone agreement with these countries. The CIS is followed by Asia and Africa. However, one should not expect a sharp increase in Belarusian exports to these regions, because local consumers are not familiar with Belarusian products yet,” the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister said.