Today, at the seat of the Ministry, Mr. Robert Telus, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, hosted the delegation of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) headed by Minister Yu Jianhua. This was the first meeting since 2018 of the heads of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and the GACC, the institution responsible for the authorisation of imported food for the Chinese market.

The position of Poland

Minister Robert Telus stressed that only a significant increase in the access of Polish food to the Chinese market could bring about the effect of balancing the Polish-Chinese trade in agri-food products.

“We regard the lifting of the ban on Polish beef imports as a new opening with regard to Polish meat sales. We expect an efficient implementation of further procedures needed to begin beef shipments from Poland to China,” the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture said.

Minister Robert Telus also expressed the expectation that poultry and pork meat exports would be resumed, in accordance with the regionalisation rules of the World Organization for Animal Health.

“We would like to return to the situation where pork and poultry meat exports were a significant part of Polish agri-food exports to the People’s Republic of China,” the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture pointed out.

The Polish Minister also mentioned the interest in the exports of heat-processed pork and poultry products to China.

In addition, Minister Robert Telus also pointed out the readiness to engage in effective cooperation in order to quickly finalise the other access arrangements now being negotiated, among others, those on fishery products, beans and honey.

The position of China

Minister Yu Jianhua confirmed the interest in intensification of trade. He also declared that the People’s Republic of China would be more open to high-quality agri-food products from Poland, including an efficient conclusion of the access procedure for beef.

The signed bilateral agreements

In the course of the meeting, the delegations signed documents regulating the conditions for the exports of more groups of Polish products to the Chinese market: the Protocol on Beef, the Memorandum of Understanding on the Prevention and Combating of BSE, as well as the Protocols Setting Out the Conditions for the Exports of Blueberry Fruit and Pet Food.

The signing of the Protocols is not tantamount to the conclusion of procedures and the opening of the market of the People’s Republic of China; still, it is a very important step in this direction.

Trade in agri-food products with China

China is one of Poland’s main partners in agri-food trade and a market which has invariably enjoyed a large interest of Polish producers. In 2022, our exports to this country reached EUR 188.6 million. For several years now, the Polish exports to the People’s Republic of China have primarily included milk and dairy products.