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The Polish poultry sector has grown significantly in recent years. Currently, however, it is facing immense pressure.
The Polish poultry sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, but it is currently under intense pressure, the Poultry Producers Association told top agrar. According to Dariusz Goszczyński, managing director of the Polish Poultry Producers Association Krajowa Rada Drobiarstwa (KRD-IG), the industry is facing a host of challenges.
Goszczyński is particularly critical of the planned free-trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur states. While the European Commission points out that the proposed import quota of 180,000 tonnes of poultry meat would account for only about 1.4 percent of EU production, he disagrees. He stresses that these imports would consist mainly of chicken breast—an item for which imports already supply 25 percent of the European market. Any further increase would cause significant market disruption, similar to the recent surge in imports from Ukraine.
Ukraine is steadily gaining market share in the EU, and its fast-growing poultry sector poses a threat to European competitiveness alongside Mercosur. The country’s largest poultry producer, MHP, has benefited greatly from duty-free access to the EU market. In light of the temporary trade agreement’s expiry and forthcoming EU-accession talks with Ukraine, Goszczyński calls for a level playing field for Polish and other European producers.
Animal-disease pressure also remains high. In response to ongoing avian-influenza outbreaks, Poland has already proposed additional national measures to halt the spread. Avian influenza continues to be a major risk to the sector’s economic stability.
Finally, Goszczyński warns that some international animal-welfare organisations, under the guise of promoting animal well-being, are pursuing economic or political agendas and using public campaigns to block investment in modern, welfare-friendly housing projects in Poland.
