China has okayed the first batch of poultry exports to the European Union under reduced tariffs by issuing customs certificate to a Shandong-based firm, the General Administration of Customs said on Tuesday.
According to annual quotas agreed by the EU in November, 6,600 tonnes of Chinese duck meat and 5,000 tonnes of chicken meat are subject to the lower import tariffs of 8% to 10.9%.
China filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over high EU poultry import tariffs in 2015; its companies previously had to pay a fixed rate of €2,765 ($3,095.42) per tonne on poultry exports to the EU.
The low-tariff agreement will save Chinese poultry exporters around 120 million yuan ($17.85 million) a year, the customs statement said,
All 17 Chinese poultry firms qualified to export to the EU are based in Shandong, in eastern China, according to the statement, which did not name the companies.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
