Thailand to resume frozen chicken exports to SKorea by mid-2015

BANGKOK, February 10 (TNA) - Thailand's shipment of frozen chicken to South Korea is expected by mid-2015, its first export of the product since 2004, thanks to Seoul's lifting of its import ban on Thai frozen chicken. South Korea recently decided to lift the 11-year ban on imported frozen chicken from Thailand, a move which is expected to boost overall Thai chicken exports to grow by 6-7 per cent year-on-year this year. Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Pitipong Phungbun Na Ayudhya told journalists on Tuesday that the Thai Embassy in Seoul has received a confirmation of the decision from the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, following its risk assessment on poultry imported from Thailand. Pitipong said that Thailand was, however, asked to draft and publicize its export terms of the product and to certify slaughterhouses for chicken exports to South Korea. Pitipong noted that he has instructed his ministry's Department of Livestock Development and other concerned agencies to speed up drafting the export terms and disease control regulations for slaughterhouses. Pitipong estimated that Thai exports of frozen chicken to the South Korean market should, thus, resume around June 2015 for the first time in 11 years. Thai exports of frozen chicken to South Korea have been suspended since 2004 due to outbreaks of avian influenza in Thailand. Thailand exported 42,580 tonnes of frozen chicken, worth 2.23 billion baht, to South Korea in 2003. The minister projected that Thailand’s exports of frozen chicken should, from now on, increase by 40,000 tonnes a year, thanks to South Korea’s removal of the ban. According to the minister, Thailand's overall chicken exports should rise by 6-7 per cent year-on-year this year, to 600,000 tonnes, worth about 82 billion baht, up from 560,000 tonnes last year. (TNA)