What's New ? - 2014

As of 13 December 2014, new EU food labelling (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011) rules, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in 2011, will ensure that consumers receive clearer, more comprehensive and accurate information on food content, and help them make informed choices about what they eat. Foods and food supplements exported to the markets of the European Union (EU) will have be labeled in full compliance with the new EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.

Poultry meat is the only meat of which production and consumption are expected to expand significantly over the outlook period (by 7% each between 2014 and 2024). Supported by sustained global demand, the EU will maintain its market share with EU exports accounting for 10% of global trade. Poultry meat currently enjoys several comparative advantages over other meats, e.g. affordability, convenience, absence of any religious guidelines limiting consumption, healthy image, limited greenhouse gas emissions, lower production costs, short rearing time and lower levels of investment required.

Shell eggs imported from Turkey were found with excessive Sulfamethoxazole residues. The presence of drug residues in eggs above MRL (maximum residues limit) is injurious to human health and considered illegal.

The Urban School Food Alliance announced plans to make antibiotic-free chicken the new norm in the lunchrooms of the six largest public school districts in the country. The move was taken by the Urban School Food Alliance, which includes LAUSD and the New York City, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando school districts. Combined, the districts serve nearly 2.9 million students and purchase more than $550 million in food and supplies every year.

Zoetis announced the reintroduction of Zoamix® (zoalene=dinitolmide [DOT]), a chemical anticoccidial for the prevention and control of coccidiosis in broilers and turkeys in the US. Zoamix can be used with no withdrawal, it allows immunity to develop through trickle immunity. Zoalene is most efficacious against E. tenella and E. necatrix less so against other species.

Incidents with dioxins and PCBs have resulted in a strategy within the EU to reduce the exposure of the population to these compounds. Maximum levels were set for food and feed products and criteria were developed for the analytical methods (both confirmatory and screening) used for official control measurements. Ideally, any analysis performed with the aim of comparing the result with the legal limits should be performed according to these criteria. It should also apply to monitoring, performed to estimate human exposure and trend analysis rather than compliance with limits, since risk assessments and EU-policies rely heavily on these data.

Perdue Farms announced the company's approach to country-of-origin labeling (COOL) goes beyond federal requirements. COOL requires chicken processors to let consumers know where chickens are hatched, raised and harvested for whole muscle cuts and ground chicken. The rule doesn't include cooked and other further-processed products that may be imported, and food companies aren't required to inform consumers if those further-processed chicken products are in the foods they buy.

According to the Agrimoney.com website, UK poultry output is to grow by a further 1.9m birds per week by the end of 2016, taking its growth over nine years to 30%, helped by a switch from red meat. UK poultry output - which has already risen, in slaughter terms, from 14.7m birds per week at the end of 2007 to 17.2m birds per week – will hit 19.1m head by the end of 2016.

A trio of food safety and environmental advocacy groups filed suit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, saying the agency has not sufficiently proven that ractopamine, a drug fed to pigs, cattle and turkeys, is safe for animals, humans who eat them, or the environment. Ractopamine, a beta-agonist, increases the rate at which animals convert feed to muscle by mimicking the body’s stress hormones. It is typically fed to livestock in the weeks before slaughter to promote weight gain.

An audit was carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office in Israel, from 10 to 19 June 2014. The objectives of the audit were to evaluate whether the official controls systems for poultry meat, products derived there from and egg products destined for export to the European Union (EU) can provide equivalent guarantees to those required by EU legislation. The report concludes that there is a well organised official control system covering the production chain of poultry meat and products derived there from intended for export to the EU. Overall the system is capable of ensuring that these exports to the EU meet most of the relevant standards. The CAs follow suitable procedures for the listing of establishments and the certification of products for EU export. The system is supported by the use of an electronic database and an extensive network of official procedures which are both adequately implemented at all administrative levels.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that India had violated WTO rules by blocking imports of U.S. poultry and other farm products. India banned imports of various agricultural products from the United States in 2007, to prevent outbreaks of avian influenza in the country, and claimed its import restrictions were justified by international rules on animal health. However, the WTO agreed with the United States that India's measures were discriminatory, and were not based on international standards.

The total consumption of antimicrobial agents by the country’s animals in 2013 was about 128 tons - a 4-percent increase over the previous year. According to the new DANMAP (Danish Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Program) report, the increase is mainly attributed to a 6-percent increase in the consumption of antimicrobials in pig production, which accounts for the vast majority of Denmark’s meat production. However, consumption in poultry and pets also increased. The level of fluoroquinolone (ciprofloxacin) resistance in Campylobacter jejuni remains higher among isolates from imported broiler meat compared with isolates from Danish broiler meat. Consumption of critically important antimicrobials in animal production is still low. In 2013, the overall consumption of antimicrobial agents in poultry (all poultry) was approximately 1,270 kg active compound, which represents a 57% increase compared with 2012.

The Food and Drug Administration’s 2012 Summary Report show that sales of medically important antimicrobials used in food-producing animals in the U.S. increased by 8 percent in 2012 and by 16 percent between 2009 and 2012. Breaking that number down, tetracyclines accounted for 67 percent, penicillins for 11 percent, macrolides for 7 percent, sulfonamides for 6 percent, aminoglycosides for 3 percent, lincosamides for 2 percent, and cephalosporins for fewer than 1 percent.

Chilean competition authorities will penalize Agrosuper for being part of an alleged chicken cartel in the domestic market. Besides Agrosuper, two other chicken producing companies, Ariztia and Don Pollo, racked up $60 million in fines for collusion.

Last year, Canada imported more than 97 million kg of chicken meat that was declared as being from spent fowl (spent fowl are old laying hens: a by-product of egg and hatching egg production) - which is 110 per cent of the United States’ entire annual spent fowl production. Based on production and trade statistics, Canada is currently importing more spent fowl breast meat than is actually produced in the entire U.S. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, spent fowl can come into Canada duty free. American processors mislabelling chicken as spent fowl meat stand to gain millions of dollars by avoiding import controls.

Heinz announced that it will be switching 20 percent of its eggs to cage-free throughout its North American operations by the end of 2015. Heinz produces an enormous array of food products, including a leading mayonnaise brand.

The world’s largest food company announced that it would improve the welfare of farm animals in its supply chain. The new program will eliminate standard practices from Nestle's supply chain, as cage systems for laying hens.

German supermarkets, with a broad consensus, recently demanded from the German Poultry Association (ZDG) to stop using GMO feed for both egg and poultry meat production, starting from January 1st 2015. That is the date when the retailers want to receive GMO-free fed products again. In February this year, the ZDG unilaterally declared that it was stopping using GM-free animal feed, following similar moves by other associations in England and Denmark. The reasons provided for the step after over a decade of GMO-free feeding were an alleged shortage of GMO-free soya, the risk of contamination, and the associated legal uncertainty.

The German Federal State of Lower Saxony has introduced stricter rules for broiler production. The new rules specifically address injuries to chicken feet. According to the Ministry of Agriculture in Lower Saxony, the number and severity of injuries to chicken feet will be examined in the future. If violations are not corrected and conditions don’t improve, farmers need to reduce their stocking density.

The new regulations are said to allow the relevant authorities assess the frequency of antibiotic usage on a farm and draw comparisons with other livestock holders. Livestock farmers are now required to report to the competent authority every six months on what antibiotics they have administered to which animals in that period including the quantities involved. Supervisory authorities will assess the frequency of antibiotic therapy on a farm and make comparisons with other farms. Following comparisons, a farmer can be required to take action deemed necessary. The change, aimed at gradually reducing the use of antibiotics in livestock farming, is part of the 16th Act amending the German Drug Act, which came into force in July, and applies to chicken, turkey, pig and cattle farmers.

An egg farmer in New Zealand who admitted duping consumers by passing off 2.47 million eggs from caged hens as free-range has claimed the practice is widespread. But an industry body rejects this, although it concedes it ultimately comes down to the honesty of farmers to provide correct labelling on their products. John Garnett, owner of now-defunct Northland egg producer Forest Hill Farm, was sentenced to 12 months' home detention and 200 hours' community service in the Whangarei District Court.

Russia plans to restrict imports of U.S. poultry, according to the National Chicken Council. The move is retaliation for sanctions that American and Europe have imposed on Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Russia is the second largest export market for U.S. chicken. Last year, America exported roughly 267,000 metric tons of chicken, worth about $309 million, to Russia, according to the NCC. Russia currently accounts for about 7% of total U.S. poultry export volume.

New research published in the Poultry Science journal suggests that feed are not suitable litter material for laying hens because they lead to lipid accumulation on the plumage. Within the European Union, dustbathing material in cage-housing systems for laying hens became compulsory in 2012. In practice, most producers use food particles as litter substrate. The feed is dropped in small amounts on scratching mats by an automatic transporting system.

Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly, announced today the acquisition of Sunrise Farms. Sunrise Farms, started in 1950 and is the oldest commercial producer of SPF eggs.

Poultry meat has long been seen as a value for money food and this has underscored an increase in demand, particularly in recent years. However, the poultry sector continued to face considerable challenges during 2013. The price of compound feed and cereals stabilised during 2013, albeit at higher levels than in previous years, and this together with energy costs and significant pressure from imports have presented difficulties for producers.

The EU-28 compound feed production in 2013 reached 155 M tonnes, i.e. slightly above the 2012 figure (154.7 Mt). Pig feed has seen its production fall by -1.4%, whereas cattle feed increased by +2.2% in 2013.

South Africa imposed anti-dumping duties ranging from 22%-73% against imports of chicken from Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. South Africa does not impose import duties on EU members‚ because of a trade and cooperation agreement signed in 2001. But it is allowed to impose antidumping duties where there is a prima facie case that the local industry is suffering material injury from dumping by EU members.

DeCoster, an Iowa company has agreed to pay $6.8 million in fines for selling old eggs with false labels for years as well as the tainted products that caused a nationwide salmonella outbreak in 2010, according to a plea agreement. Quality Egg LLC, once one of the nation's largest egg producers, plead guilty to charges of bribing a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector to approve sales of poor quality eggs, selling misbranded eggs and introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Austin “Jack” DeCoster, 79, and his son, Peter DeCoster, 51, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett will later decide their sentences, which could be up to one year in jail, fines of $100,000 apiece and additional restitution for victims.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has filed action in the Federal Court’s Adelaide registry against the Australian Egg Corporation and two producers - Twelve Oaks Poultry and Farm Pride Foods. The lobby group, which includes competing companies, is accused of conspiring to induce other members of the AECL to cull chickens and dispose of eggs in order to restrict supply and keep prices high.

Statistics on the production of table eggs in Canada.

With the notable exception of the US, bullish poultry market conditions are turning bearish due to recent grain price hikes caused by turmoil in Ukraine and El Niño-related worries. Abrupt increases in feed prices (up 10%-15% on earlier expectations), avian influenza (AI) outbreaks in China and a weaker Asian economy are expected to affect margins in Q2. A slowdown in global trade volumes and lower product prices, especially for leg quarters, will affect companies in international trade and lead to shifts in global trade streams. Brazil is likely to be affected the most, while Thailand is likely to benefit due to its recent return in the Japanese raw chicken market.

Huvepharma announced an agreement to acquire Viridus Animal Health LLC, a subsidiary of Novus International Inc., that manufactures and sells ADVENT coccidiosis vaccine. Huvepharma expects the transaction to close in early April 2014.

In an effort to meet the Passover demand for eggs in Israel, the government has approved importing 30 million eggs from Turkey. The imported eggs will be marked with a “TR” on the egg. Some veterinarians are not pleased with the decision, pointing out the standard in Turkey is lower than in Israel, for in the latter layer flocks are vaccinated against Salmonella enteritidis while in Turkey this is not mandatory.

EU poultry meat producers have to comply with legislation on environ-mental protection, animal welfare and food safety. This legislation has increased the production costs of poultry meat. At the same time the EU is negotiating with other countries or groups of countries to liberal-ise trade in agricultural products. This report examines how lowering import levies impacts the competitiveness of the EU poultry industry. The results show that the offer price of broiler breast fillet in 2011 of some third countries was already below the average EU price. Despite the current import levy on breast fillet, these third countries can be competitive in the EU market.

Elanco, announced an agreement to acquire Lohmann Animal Health, a privately-held company headquartered in Cuxhaven, Germany. Under the terms of the agreement, Elanco will acquire all assets of Lohmann SE and its subsidiary, Lohmann Animal Health. These assets include a range of vaccines and feed additives, commercial capabilities, and manufacturing sites in Cuxhaven, Germany and Winslow, Maine.

The Big Dutchman group based in Vechta-Calveslage (Germany) is taking over the Spanish poultry equipment supplier Zucami. The company with its headquarters in Beriáin, near Pamplona, recently became insolvent. Business will continue under the new name Zucami Poultry Equipment S.L. Big Dutchman is the world’s leading equipment supplier for modern pig and poultry production.

The Swiss drugmaker is leaning toward a sale or spinoff of its animal health unit as a first move toward a slimmer, more focused company. Sources indicated that Novartis may be interested in exchanging its animal health division with one of Merck & Co.'s assets opposed to selling the unit. Novartis would like to swap the unit for an asset that bolsters its position in an area where it is already a leader.