madam president animal- and public-health rules applying to the export of poultry meat from china ensure an equivalent level of protection to those of the eu
these import rules guarantee that all imported products fulfil the same high standards as products from the eu member states not only with respect to hygiene and all aspects of consumer safety but also regarding animal health status
the principle according to which food must be safe irrespective of its origin is at the core of the eu approach
the official control system in china was verified on the spot by three commission inspections
the outcome was published on the website of dg sanco
the inspections have shown that the competent authorities in particular in shandong province are sufficiently well structured to guarantee compliance with community legislation as regards heat-treated poultry meat products
furthermore these inspection missions have also verified that the competent authorities are capable of enforcing the community's import requirements
as a result of this exercise the chinese authorities have demonstrated to the commission services that they can certify that consignments of heat-treated poultry meat products being exported to the european union were produced in accordance with community requirements and come only from shandong province
all approved plants in the community list of establishments from which imports of heat-treated poultry meat is authorised are located in shandong province
this was verified by the three fact-finding missions on the spot one in two thousand and four two in two thousand and six
according to the wto agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures any third country may request authorisation for export for the totality or part of its territory to the commission which is considered and evaluated according to the relevant community requirements
if the guarantees given by a third country are deemed satisfactory and are effectively verified such requests from third countries are accepted and authorisation for export granted
any risk of distortion of competition towards eu poultry producers is prevented by the fact that the measures in place provide for sufficient guarantees that the heat-treated poultry meat products from certain regions are compliant with the level of protection that the eu deems necessary
informed choice by consumers would be the answer to competitive pressure
the chinese authorities expressed interest in the approval by the commission of the imports of heat-treated poultry meat from jilin province
to get this approval the chinese authorities will have to guarantee that the sanitary conditions applied to the production of heat-treated poultry meat in jilin province meets ec requirements and the commission will verify these guarantees by on-the-spot inspections
