Spain and China sign sanitary control protocols for exporting Spanish table grapes, cured pork products and pork meat to China

The new pork protocol was negotiated between the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Customs General Administration of China at the Mixed Commission on Spanish-Chinese Cooperation held in October in Beijing between the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the Chinese Trade Ministry. The protocol will allow the range of authorised products to be significantly widened, including fresh meat and cured products such as Spanish ham, pork shoulder, pork loin, salchichón sausage and chorizo sausage. Until now, only meat and frozen offal have been exported to China.

Boned ham was the only processed product that Spain could export to China until now. This new protocol will grant access for products of greater added value, such as ham on the bone and other cured products, generating huge opportunities for the meat industry once it has access to the largest market in the world under some highly advantageous conditions. Furthermore, the new text pertaining to the sanitary and zoosanitary requirements for pork exports from Spain will allow for the export of refrigerated fresh meat, thereby providing access to a new niche market for high-quality products offering greater product distinctiveness.

China is the largest market for pork products by far, consuming approximately 50% of total global production. Pork accounts for two-thirds of total meat consumption in the diet of Chinese consumers and, although China is also the largest producer in the world, it represents the largest import market.

In recent years, Spain has gradually climbed the ranking to become the leading exporter of pork meat to China in 2017 and the fourth exporter of offal, with a total of 373,000 tonnes worth 574 million euros, making this the top Spanish export product to China.

Table grape exports

A protocol on the export of table grapes was also signed today, which will allow this fruit to start being exported to the Chinese market. The negotiations were conducted with the Customs General Administration of China by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in coordination with the State Secretary for Trade of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. Negotiations were completed in a substantially shorter time than is usual for this country.

Until now, Spain could only export citrus fruits under the protocol signed in 2005, as well as peaches and plums under the protocol signed in 2016. China does not allow more than one fruit to be negotiated at a time, meaning that the signing of a new protocol within only two years is highly unusual given the complex nature of the necessary phytosanitary risk analysis and the negotiation of mitigation measures capable of guaranteeing safe trade without the risk of spreading pests.

Although China is the leading producer of fruit in the world, it is also the top consumer and its imports have been increasing year after year. In 2017, China imported a total of 4.56 million tonnes of fruit worth 5.64 billion euros, mostly from countries in the south-east Asia region. However, the strong demand for various high-quality fruits means that China is buying increasingly more from distant markets.

China produces approximately 11 million tonnes of table grapes and imported 216,000 tonnes in 2017 worth 520 million euros. Forecasts indicate that these imports will continue to rise in the years ahead in line with the current trend.

The main exporters of table grapes to China are countries in the southern hemisphere (Chile, Peru, Australia and South Africa), although the US also exports a highly significant volume to China (17,000 tonnes in 2017 worth 46 million euros). The greatest interest from China is for premium quality fruit, mainly seedless, and for new varieties in this market that can stand out from domestic production. When entering Chinese territory, Spanish table grapes will be subject to a 13% duty and 11% VAT.

Spain exported a total of 24,000 tonnes of fruit to China in 2017 worth 33 million euros, of which the majority was citrus fruit.

Non official translation