British pig meat moves closer to China

UK’s department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) says a protocol on the conditions for the export of the country’s pig meat to China has been signed by the Minister for trade and investment, Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham, and Li Changjiang, minister at the general administration of quality, supervision, inspection, and quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) in Beijing.

This is a major step towards the UK beginning exports of pig meat to China, after the Chinese authorities lifted foot-and-mouth related import restrictions on 7 August this year.

Defra, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) staff and the British Pig Executive (BPEX) will now work with the Chinese authorities to progress the remaining Chinese requirements – specifically to conduct inspection visits to the UK, approve UK processing plants and to subsequently agree export health certification.

This also represents an important step towards reaching the bilateral trade target of $60 billion agreed by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and Premier Wen Jiabao in January 2008.