Eggs and poultry - frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
International trade in eggs and poultry
I am interested in exporting egg and/or poultrymeat products, and understand that there may be some financial support available for exporters. Who should I contact for further information?
To compete in the world market, against third countries with exceptionally low production costs, there is an element of financial support available for certain eggs and poultry products (including day old chicks, hatching eggs and egg ingredients in certain processed goods), in the form of Export Refunds. The quantity and amount of aid provided is heavily restricted by the EU's commitment to the General Agreement for Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Export refund levels are set by the European Commission at monthly Management Committee meetings in Brussels, and are administered via a licence system. Further details are available on the ManCom page.
Export refund licences are administered by the Rural Payments Agency. See export refund rates on the RPA website.
What duty is payable on poultry products exported outside the EU?
Third countries will impose duties or tariffs on many imported products. The European Commission provides information detailing import duties for a wide range of products on its market access database. You will need to know the correct Customs nomenclature (CN) code for your product. Definitive guidance is available at the HM Revenue and Customs Tariff Classification Service on tel: 01702 366077.
I am an importer, and want access to reduced import tariffs for egg and poultrymeat products. Who should I contact for more information?
Following trade agreements between the members of the European Union (EU) and certain third countries (either in the form of association agreements with prospective EU members or other preferential trade arrangements), processors and importers may be eligible to apply for reduced import tariffs for certain imports. Quota is obtained by the issue of import licences by the Rural Payments Agency.
I want to import poultrymeat from a third country. How can I ensure that the producer conforms to EC standards for health and hygiene?
Information on the health and hygiene criteria for egg and poultrymeat products is available. If you are an importer, and are checking a third country plant's "approved establishment" status, you can consult the European Commission's.
I am an importer of poultrymeat. I have heard about "additional duties" and/or the "special safeguard mechanism". What are these, and what do they mean to me?
To protect the EU poultrymeat market from unfair competition, and to compensate EU producers for comparatively high feed costs, WTO rules allow for the imposition, under certain circumstances, of additional or "safeguard" import duties. Currently, these may be applied to certain poultrymeat products imported from Brazil, Thailand, Chile and Argentina. In order to apply the safeguard duties, products must be being imported below a base "trigger" price. The rate of safeguard duty is based on the difference between the cost of the product (the sum of:- cost, freight and insurance) and the trigger price. Trigger prices are set in Commisson Regulations
An importer of a product currently subject to safeguard duties, must provide documentary evidence of the price paid for the shipment upon entry into the EU. The rate of safeguard duty may then be calculated, using a Microsoft Excel 97 Spreadsheet:
- Rate of safeguard duty
(37 KB)
In the event that documentary evidence is not available, the trader must pay a security, based on a representative price calculated periodically (normally at monthly Management Committee meetings) by the European Commission, based on market price data received from EU Member States.
Further detailed information is available on the poultry CAP page.
Why can't additional duties also be applied to cooked chicken or other poultry products?
Special safeguard duties may be applied to imports of uncooked boneless chicken meat where they are considered to pose a threat to the EU market. These special safeguards were agreed during the Uruguay Round and it is not possible to extended them to new products.
What duty free or reduced duty quotas are available?
Imports under minimum access quotas negotiated within the last round of World Trade Organisation WTO discussions (so-called Uruguay round) benefit from a reduction on the relevant basic tariff rates, and are subject to licensing arrangements laid down in Commission Regulations. Specifically, for poultry, these Regulations are 1431/94 (zero duty) and 1251/96 (reduced duties). For eggs and egg products, Regulation 1474/95 (reduced duties).
In addition, In order to promote closer political and trade relations with Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries, the EU has concluded Association Agreements with a number of CEE countries which include reduced duty import quotas for various egg and poultrymeat products.
Trade negotiations are to take place between the EU and 76 countries of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) The new strategy aims to enhance market access by removing non-tariff barriers to trade.
Quotas are administered in the UK by the Rural Payments Agency.
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Page last modified: 10 September 2007