Eggs and poultry
International trade in eggs and poultrymeat
International trade in eggs and poultrymeat with countries outside the EU is governed by a number of EC regulations.
These include regulations which determine the levels of duty applicable on imports into the EU, and any payments made to exporters of eggs and poultry products from the EU.
There are provisions for "safeguard" action to be taken, to help prevent the EU market being undermined by cheap imports. These measures are available to compensate EU producers for the high feed costs within the EU.
Frequently asked questions
For further informaiton, see the international trade FAQs.
Representative prices and additional duties for imports
The Representative price is set by the EU and is reviewed on a regular basis. The price represents an average price for each of the countries concerned per 100kg against which there is a set additional duty. All securities taken under this regulation are secured against this price.
Current representative prices and additional duties for imports of certain poultrymeat are available. These are generally updated at monthly meetings in Brussels. However, updates can occur at any time. You may wish to check this page regularly.
The current Export Refunds for Egg and Poultry Products can be found on the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) website.
- Please contact the Rural Payments Agency for export licence arrangements
- Please contact HM Revenue and Customs
for clarification of customs code and import duties. If you wish to
calculate the applicable rate of additional
duty for a poultrymeat import, a Microsoft
Excel 97 spreadsheet is available
.
and also Commission Regulation 1484/95 – detailed rules for implementing the system of additional import duties and fixing representative prices.
If you have further technical queries on the application of additional duties you can contact HM Revenue and Customs by email for more detailed operational guidance. Note: any other queries for HM Revenue and Customs should first be addressed to your local Entry Processing Unit (EPU).
Health conditions
To find out if a non-EU country has establishments approved for exporting egg or poultry products to the EU, search the approved establishments list available via the Animal Health international trade pages.
Related Government departments
The Department of Trade and Industry's Europe and World Trade pages provide information and links to a variety of international trade related issues. These include a news service, an introduction to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and further information on trade with third countries in a variety of commodities.
UN/ECE standards for eggs and poultrymeat
The UN/ECE (The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) was set up in 1947 to encourage greater international economic co-operation.
With regards to trade, common voluntary Standards for Marketing and Commercial Control of Eggs in Shell were set up in 1976, and last updated in 1996, to facilitate common trading standards and to provide a basis for trade between countries without their own regulatory standards.
With regards to trade, a draft UN/ECE Standard is in preparation for poultrymeat to facilitate common trading standards and to provide a basis for trade between countries without their own regulatory standards.
Page last modified: 28 February 2006