China’s clampdown on illegal meat eats puts US$2 billion in to India trade at risk

China has been seeking alternative sources of meat following the African swine fever outbreak. Photo: AP

Bloomberg; Published: 12:29pm, 8 Dec 2019

• India scrambles to find new buyers as Beijing tightens controls due to African swine fever

• South Asian nation cannot directly sell buffalo meat to China due to a ban introduced by Beijing in 2001 following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth

China’s crackdown on illegal meat imports has left India, one of the biggest exporters of buffalo meat, scrambling for a new buyer.

Beijing has adopted stricter border controls due to African swine fever, meaning Indian buffalo meat exports into China that usually flow through Vietnam have all but stopped. Indian exporters are now hoping Indonesia can more than triple its meat imports from the South Asian nation to make up for the heavy losses this year.Tighter border controls in China have hurt a black market meat trade that is normally worth about US$2 billion a year. India cannot directly sell buffalo meat to China due to a ban introduced by Beijing in 2001 following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.China, the biggest consumer of pork, has boosted beef and other meat imports as consumers seek alternatives following the deadly swine disease that has killed more than a million pigs.

Indian shipments of buffalo meat and offal to China via Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Hong Kong in the year to October fell by 23 per cent year on year to 14,645 containers, according to data compiled by the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association. Government figures showed exports to Vietnam, India’s biggest buyer, dropped 34 per cent to 202,873 tonnes in the six months ended in September.

Exporters wanted to boost sales to Indonesia to 300,000 tonnes a year from 80,000 tonnes now, said Fauzan Alavi, the association’s vice-president.

The group had been pushing for the government to talk to Indonesia to get the import quota increased, he said, adding that the association was expecting a positive outcome soon. India had also requested that China lift its ban on imports, Alavi said.

The association has also been pressing the Indian government to cut export taxes on rawhides to remain competitive in the global market.

The processors were struggling to sell rawhides despite a reduction in India’s export duty to 40 per cent in July from 60 per cent, Alavi said. Australia, the US and Canada had zero export duties, while Brazil had a 9 per cent tax, he said.

The duty removal was crucial for the survival of the industry at a time when most tanneries were shut and some were working at lower capacities, said Alavi, who is also a director at India’s biggest buffalo meat exporter, Allanasons.

“Even if China takes time to allow imports from India, higher sales to Indonesia and a cut in rawhide duties will keep us afloat,” he said.

Source ; 

South China Morning Post