Friday, March 29, 2024

China reopens for venison

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China has reopened for New Zealand venison exports following its clampdown on illegal sales of wild animal meat.
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A catalogue of approved animal species for human consumption has been issued and it includes venison from farmed malu, the Chinese name for Red deer.

Deer Industry NZ chief executive Innes Moffat said the inclusion of NZ farmed venison is good news for producers and marketers.

“It makes it clear to officials across China that the sale and consumption of NZ venison is legal and safe for Chinese consumers,” Moffat said.

“Chinese consumers have a growing appreciation for quality animal proteins making China an increasingly important market for our venison. 

“It was taking about 10% of our exports until the end of 2019,” Moffat said.

When it became clear covid-19 jumped the species barrier from wild animals China clamped down on illegal sales of wild animal meat.

“Although our venison comes from farmed deer this put a virtual halt to our exports there and given that deer are still widely seen as wild animals it’s easy to see how some regional and border officials might have become uncertain about the legality of our farmed venison.

“The news is really very timely. 

“China has seen a dramatic slowing of the incidence of covid-19 to the point where Wuhan, the source of the pandemic, is reporting no new cases. 

“Restaurants in many regions are reopening so it’s a good time for us to be selling our venison there.” 

Restaurants in some of NZ’s other main markets are also reopening.

“How consumers will respond to this situation is unclear, which means there is less certainty about when trade will recover to previous levels.”

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