Bovine serum and protein products are used in the animal pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing vaccines, diagnostic kits, laboratory testing media, and a range of specialised products.
New Zealand exported some bovine blood products to China prior to 2015, however formal access has now been negotiated providing more certainty.
“Formal access for New Zealand bovine blood products opens up enormous opportunities for our producers. These products represent a valuable market and we expect our exports will be in significant demand in China,” Primary Industries minister Nathan Guy said.
“New Zealand now has market access for both finished and semi-finished products, which will mean exporters can attract a price-premium for these higher-value products. This is likely to be worth at least $50 million per year.
“We have an enviable disease status compared with many countries, which means our bovine blood products are widely sought after by a range of markets across the globe.”
Guy made the announcement while visiting Proliant’s cattle blood product manufacturing plant in Feilding.
Currently 16 premises have been registered by AQSIQ to export bovine blood products to China.
“This new access is a real bonus for the wider meat industry, the regions and our wider economy.
“It’s a great value-add story. It’s a value creation story, it’s very exciting and I acknowledge the work that MPI has done with AQSIQ, we’ve been working on this for a number of years and now we have a formal protocol for 16 premises that can access China.
Proliant general manager Paul Lewis said the access would provide new sales opportunities for the company.
“We’ve been pretty keen to get access into China, and we expect a lot of our business to China. We have our sales director heading up there in the next short while – he’s already go customers lined up. It’s very, very exciting.”
He said he expected China to make up anywhere from 35-55% of Proliant’s business now access there had been gained.
“We have capacity to expand, the building here is only 55% full so if we put a second line in because our business grows we’re already set to go.”
NZ’s certification process was beneficial, Lewis said.
“We can go right from any of our finished product back to the cow on the paddock. So the traceability of our raw material is unmatched worldwide and MPI makes it easy for us to do that. It’s impressive when you can give a customer a Government seal.”
