UK broadens import quota for Brazilian chicken
The United Kingdom increased the import quota of poultry meat from Brazil by 20.7%, from 79,900 to 96.500 tonnes per year, according to the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA).
The entity calculates an increase in revenue to Brazilian exporters by at least US$60 million this year. The agreement was announced days after the visit of Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil, Carlos Fávaro, to England.
On 19 April, the minister participated in a working meeting with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the UK, Thérèse Coffey, with a focus on opening up the British market for animal proteins.
According to the president of Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), Ricardo Santin, the change is an important achievement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil.
“This should generate significant, positive impacts on the general balance of poultry shipments in the country later this year, in addition to consolidating Brazil as a great supplier to the British market,” assesses Santin.
Brexit
ABPA explains that, with Brexit, the EU and the UK established an initial agreement for the distribution of tariff quotas (with different tariffs) for the sale of poultry meat.
In the agreement, the UK had a total quota of 79.9 tonnes of chicken meat per year.
However, “after a long and detailed negotiation conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), the volume of quotas was increased by 16,600 tonnes per year,” says the ABPA.
ABPA’s director of Markets, Luís Rua, explained that the initial division did not match the reality of the market: “Now, quotas for the UK have been expanded on virtually all tariff lines. Standouts were boiled chicken and salted chicken. We should already see positive results in our exports from July when the quota will come into force.”
Brazil and the United Kingdom
According to Mapa, the United Kingdom is considered a strategic market since it imports almost 50% of the food and beverages it consumes. In addition, in 2022 alone, Brazilian agribusiness exports to England grew by 37.9% in value.
The United Kingdom is, for example, the third-largest importer of Brazilian fruit (accounting for 12% of the total), behind Europe (70%) and the United States (15%), according to Abrafrutas in 2022.
