- ROME (AFP) - Around one-third
of global meat exports have been hit by animal diseases like bird flu and
mad cow disease, with the 12 countries facing export bans being the worst
hit, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned.
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- However, the UN agency said it expected exports in poultry
and beef substitutes such as pork to increase significantly, citing a 40
percent surge in February in the price of pigmeat in Japan.
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- The Rome-based agency said the impact on small poultry
producers in Asia could be "considerable", with over 100 million
birds estimated to have died or been culled over the past two months. Thailand
alone has culled around 36 million birds or 25 percent of the domestic
stocks.
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- "Trade losses will likely accrue to the 12 countries
which are facing export bans or market constraints as a result of animal
disease concerns related to avian influenza and BSE (news - web sites),"
the UN food agency said.
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- Canada and the United States, which account for more
than a quarter of global beef exports -- around 1.6 million tonnes worth
approximately 4.0 billion dollars (5.0 billion euros) -- have been badly
hit by outbreaks of both global diseases.
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- According to the US agriculture department, US beef exports
are expected to drop 100,000 tonnes in 2004 from the 1.2 million tonnes
exported in 2003, if the bans remain in place.
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- The surge in the price of pork in Japan has come about
following import bans on US beef and Asian poultry. Both Malaysia and the
Philippines have moved to export their poultry to Japan, which is heavily
dependent on meat imports.
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- The agency said Brazil expects to increase poultry exports
by 15 percent in 2004 in the wake of the bird flu outbreaks.
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- Meanwhile, Chinese poultry exports are forecast to decline
by 20 percent this year because of bird flu.
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- FAO also said consumption patterns in countries not directly
affected by the outbreaks, such as India where chicken prices had dropped
by one-third, were changing.
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