22/02/2023
BAN ON CHICKEN IMPORTS FROM AUSTRALIA AND ASIA NECESSARY – MINISTER MARU
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The ban on the importation of fresh, frozen, chilled chicken and chicken products from Australia and Asia is necessary for the health and safety of the industry and the people of Papua New Guinea, says Minister for International Trade & Investment Hon. Richard Maru.
He said Papua New Guinea’s institutions still do not have the capacity and the appropriate technology to contain such an influenza outbreak in the country which can destroy the smaller producers.
“Therefore, it is necessary for the import ban to be imposed on these products from these regions. It is also important for the General Public to note that the health and safety of our people and the industry is a matter of National Security which cannot be compromised,” the minister warned.
The ban on the importation of fresh, frozen, chilled chicken and chicken products from Australia and Asia came into effect on January 6, 2023.
The National Agriculture Quarantine Authority (NAQIA) deemed the impact of the Avian Influenza outbreak in the Asian and Australian Poultry industry as a threat to Papua New Guinea’s biosecurity because contaminated poultry products can affect both animal (all bird species) and public (consumers) health, and impact trade and economies.
“PNG is free from major bird diseases, however, our closest neighbors and significant trading partners in Australia and Asia are not free from bird diseases like avian influenza.
Avian influenza, or bird flu, is an infectious disease caused by a type of influenza virus. Since 1976, there has been eight outbreaks of Avian Influenza in Australia with the largest outbreak in Victoria in 2020.
Despite successful containment of these disease outbreaks, there are consistent threats of more outbreaks in the future. In Asia, virulent strains of avian influenza continue to cause human fatalities as the virus is consistently evolving.
Minister Maru said an outbreak of avian influenza in PNG will be catastrophic.
“We are still developing our capacity to manage the biosecurity risks and have taken the right steps in developing our Biosecurity Policy in 2022.
“However, we are not there yet. Let us look at some examples. We are struggling to contain the African swine fever that is impacting our piggery industry, the coffee berry borer that is affecting our coffee industry and we are just understanding how to live with cocoa pod borer after its incursion rocked our cocoa industry.”
The minister announced that in the interest of safeguarding the K1 billion Poultry Industry of PNG and our rich biodiversity of unique native bird species, the PNG Government, through NAQIA, are imposing the ban of poultry products from Australia and Asia.
“It is our Government’s duty to protect our people and industry. Poultry products are PNG’s primary source of protein and half (50%) of our poultry industry is dominated by people as out growers who produce for the live chicken market,” Minister Maru declared.
“Papua New Guinea, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is obliged to adhere to the rules administered by the organization purposely to liberalize trade, however, there are some circumstances that these rules could support maintaining trade barriers, for instance, to protect consumers, prevent the spread of diseases and protect the environment.”
Import ban is restricted under the WTO under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), governing the trade in goods.
“However, under these circumstances as announced by NAQIA, we apply General Exception to this obligation where it is permitted under the same agreement on the basis of National Security.”
As a member of WTO, PNG is obliged to notify trading partners accordingly of this import restrictions that it is a temporary measure to assess the Influenza and the strength of our institutions to contain it if it reaches PNG, he said.
The Ministry of International Trade and Investment will be working with concerned Departments and agencies including NAQIA and national Health Department to provide a report within three months with scientific data to substantiate the action taken to ban importation of fresh, frozen, chilled chicken and chicken products from Australia and Asia.
This import restriction is set to increase the cost of poultry products domestically due to supply and demand.
“However, I want to call on ICCC to ensure that there should not be any price hike as there is in-country capacity and enough supply to meet the demand,” Mr Maru said.
Poultry meat consumption per capita reached 3.83kg in 2019 in PNG, according to FAO statistics. This is 14% more than in the previous year.
Historically, poultry meat consumption per capita in PNG reached an all-time high of 3.83kg in 2019 and all-time low of 2.36kg in 2010 (poultry website). If PNG population is 10 million, then these consumption statistics could show a massive 40 million kg consumption in PNG per year with an estimated K1.6 billion worth of meat products consumption.
These figures do not include egg products and consumption in PNG which means the volume of layers and egg production alone with consumption is unaccounted for in this report.
“There is a huge demand in-country for chicken and there are two main suppliers and I encourage small local suppliers to increase your production,” the minister noted.
Meanwhile, the minister said he will be meeting with the Australian companies in the poultry industry on his way to the PNG-Australia Ministerial Forum next month to invite them to invest in PNG.
“Our vision is to be the major exporter of chicken to the Asia-Pacific Region. For example, Singapore have already asked to buy chicken from PNG but we do not have the capacity and our prices are still too high because we continue to import feed.”
“We are inviting major chicken feed producers to come to Papua New Guinea to invest in setting a large feed industry so we can reduce the cost of chicken by half and position PNG to be a major exporter of chicken to the Asia-Pacific Region,” Minister Maru said.
