Finland hopes to export pork to China in 2015
On a visit to China, Finland’s minister of agriculture and forestry Petteri Orpo stated Finland hopes to begin exports of pork and powdered milk to China next year.
Against the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, Orpo spoke of a positive step, albeit not sufficient to resolve the surplus of Finnish agricultural products due to Russia’s recent ban for agricultural products from the European Union.
In Beijing, Orpo met the director of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), a department responsible for the safety of imported foods. In summer, Chinese officials visited Finnish slaughterhouses and other facilities.
Orpo said, “The summer inspection visits went well and a report on them will be ready soon. The Chinese authorities have taken a positive view of getting our application process completed and to then starting imports of Finnish foods.”
His ministry aims to wrap up the permit process before the end of this year and launch exports in 2015. Initially, permits are being sought to deliver whole pig carcasses and powdered milk.
There is also a market for pig parts that are hard to sell in Finland, such as pigs’ ears.
Large Finnish food-processing firms like Valio, Atria and HK have beeen involved in the process for some while. Orpo added that negotiations on expanding Finnish food exports to China have been going on for seven years.
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