EPEXA General Assembly celebrates 25th Anniversary

EPEXA, the Association of European hatching egg, one-day olds and pullet exporters in the EU, representing their members of 13 Member States has celebrated its 25th anniversary during the General Assembly in Edinburgh on 14-17 June 2012.

The president of the association, Leo Graf von Drechsel, pictured in his speech the achievements of EPEXA and its members during the past 25 years. It is obvious that the situation since it was founded in 1987 has changed, and during the assembly the value and future objectives of EPEXA’s work was evaluated and set for the coming period.

In 2011 the European Union exported in total more than 700 million hatching eggs to third countries of which 11.5 million from turkeys, and more than 120 million one-day olds of which 15 million from turkeys. The total annual trade value of hatching eggs including the intra-community trade of about 950 million hatching eggs amounts at more than 400 million euros. But recent experiences have shown that sanitary and veterinary matters can heavily impact trade. The EU exporters are also faced with firm competition in and from third countries that are expanding their poultry production, like the Russian Federation and Ukraine. New trade destinations should be found, but since October 2011 the European Commission has put the refunds for hatching eggs and one-day olds at zero.

During the General Assembly president Leo Graf von Drechsel handed the presidency over to Jacques de Lange, a past president of EPEXA from 1988-1992. In his inauguration speech De Lange thanked Leo Graf von Drechsel for his outstanding work done during the last 12 years as president of EPEXA. Followed by a clear statement to the members he expressed his strong commitment to promote the international trade of hatching eggs and one-day olds. With the support of the members, EPEXA may be able to help to prevent or solve veterinary problems which can obstruct the export of hatching eggs and one-day olds to third countries.