China’s new meat rules affecting NZ venison

NEW Zealand venison farmers are being caught out by the Chinese Government’s moves to clamp down on the trade of wild meat.

The confusion has prompted some processors here to hold off shipping venison to the country.

China has been tightening its rules on the trade of wild meat in the wake of the Covid19 outbreak, which is thought to have originated in a wild animal market in Wuhan.

Silver Fern Farms chief executive Simon Limmer said despite the venison it processed and exported being a farmed product, not a wild one, there had been some clearance issues for shipments to the country.

‘‘There is a bit of confusion . . . there was a change whereby anything which was deemed to be wild meat was being excluded, now venison, obviously, was a farmed product and that just needed some clarification,’’ Mr Limmer said.

The industry was waiting for clarification to ‘‘ensure there are no holdups getting into that market’’.

Last year, only about 10% of New Zealand’s venison exports went to China, but Mr Limmer said it was considered to be a growing market.

Covid19 had softened demand for venison in other countries, which made restoring access to China even more important.

‘‘It’s a restaurantfocused product, so at the moment with very few people around the world going out and eating through restaurants it is very, very challenging for a product like venison . . . so having China, a growing market, and the opportunity to spread that market mix a little bit further is really useful to us.’’

Deer Industry NZ chief executive Innes Moffat said it was fortunate the disruption had not hit at the peak of the export season in spring.

While some venison had still managed to successfully enter China, the group was working with the New Zealand Government to get trade flowing normally, he said.

Mr Moffat said China’s Ministry

❛ There is a bit of confusion into China at the moment . . . there was a change whereby anything which was deemed to be wild meat was being excluded, now venison, obviously, was a farmed product and that just needed

some clarification

Silver Fern Farms chief executive Simon Limmer

for Agriculture and Rural Affairs had been consulting on a list of species that would be allowed to be raised for meat.

That list included red deer. Once finalised, it was expected to help exports get back on track.

‘‘It may be a few weeks before the final list is published but we think that’s a very strong signal that the confusion over venison’s status can be clarified.’’

Mr Moffat said 2020 would still be challenging for the sector.

In recent years, there had been good demand and prices for New Zealand venison, but the global economic impact of Covid19 would result in fewer people eating premium proteins at restaurants.

The industry would need to ‘‘rely on some new means of distribution this year as we find some new markets because, yeah, people aren’t going to have a lot of money in their pockets’’, he said. — RNZ