São Paulo – Algeria has allowed the imports of halal-certified chicken from Brazil after reviewing the Latin American country’s international health certificate in order to make the opening official. The deal expands the presence of Brazil into a new Arab nation in Africa with 44 million residents. Pictured, chicken meat sale in market in Algerian capital city Algiers.
Brazil’s Agriculture and Livestock Ministry said in a statement on Thursday (12) that negotiations were concluded after certifications were reviewed and health and safety requirements were established.
“It’s a large market that Brazil had been trying to open for over ten years, a major win for the poultry industry,” said Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) CEO & secretary-general Tamer Mansour. The executive explains that there has been a decline in Algerian chicken production and imports from the European Union. “This created a great opportunity for Brazil to tap into the large potential of this market,” he said.
Mansour says that the Algerian market is demanding. “Algeria has a large middle-class and upper-class population that will actually buy it and demand high quality from our producers. But I’m sure that Brazil will cater perfectly to the demanding Algerian market,” he says. According to him, whole chickens and chicken cuts will be the focus for Algeria’s market. “It’ll be a diverse array of goods that’ll help make up for the decline in other markets like Egypt.”
The president of ABPA, Brazil’s industry group for chicken and pork processors, Ricardo Santin said in a statement that Brazil will be able to meet the demands of the Algerian market and that Brazilians are going to focus their strategy on complementing local demand. The group reports that Algerian produce 340,000 tonnes of poultry domestically. According to ABPA, Algeria had until now been a closed market to chicken imports from Brazil.
“It’s a window of opportunity for Brazilian exporters, and in fact we are going to hold a promotion action in Algeria next week,” says ABPA Markets director Luís Rua. Next week, a mission is being led to Algeria featuring businesspeople and industry groups.
Brazil is the world’s top exporter and second-largest producer of poultry. The country directs 36% of its production to foreign markets, said the Ministry of Agriculture. Brazilian poultry exports grossed USD 6.73 billion year to date through August, up 5.5% compared to the same period last year. The top importers of Brazilian poultry are China, Japan, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
ABPA reports that in addition to being the world’s leading poultry exporter, Brazil is also the world’s top exporter of halal-certified poultry at approximately 2 million tonnes shipped to Muslim markets across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. According to the Agriculture Ministry, the opening of the Algeria market is the result of efforts in conjunction with the Latin American country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
