The International Poultry Council (IPC) is working to facilitate international trade and enhance cooperation among the world’s poultry producers.
On September 29, IPC President Jim Sumner spoke about the current activities and future goals of the organization as part of the 25th Latin American Poultry Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico. Sumner is also president of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council.
1. Avian influenza policy
The IPC is working with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to change its attitude toward avian influenza. Both the United States and Mexico know how the disease can disrupt the industry and stymie international trade. The 2014-2015 outbreak, Sumner said, cost the U.S. broiler industry $4.2 billion both in lost trade and lower domestic prices due to an oversupply of the meat. Mexico, dealing with the disease for more than a decade, is still struggling with trade restrictions although avian flu is regionalized in the country.
Sumner said his organization is working with the OIE’s director, Dr. Monique Eloit, to better distinguish between highly pathogenic and low pathogenic avian influenza. The IPC, he said, aims to establish a policy that trade restrictions should be based on principles of risk analysis and that importing countries should be required to demonstrate that their interventions are supported by a proper assessment of the risks.
2. Halal certification
Halal chicken meat is a continuously growing market in the Middle East and the world’s Muslim majority countries. The IPC is working to ensure the region can continue to be supplied with chicken that meets the Halal religious requirements.
Right now, a group known as ESMA, the halal-certification arm of the United Arab Emirates’ government, is considering banning stunning in halal slaughtering. Sumner said the IPC views stunning as a necessity that both protects animal welfare and facilitates the process. The IPC is facilitating a summit between the UAE and delegates from the U.S., Brazil, Italy and New Zealand in October to argue the point.
3. Antimicrobial resistance
The world’s medical community, consumers and agricultural bodies are increasingly concerned about the challenges presented by so-called superbugs resistant to antibiotics. Already, global chicken producers are scaling back the use of antimicrobials and food companies are pledging to reduce or eliminate the use of antibiotics in their supply chain.
The IPC recognizes those concerns and constructed a position statement on the issue. The organization aims to promote the responsible use and stewardship of antibiotics, ensure the protection of health and welfare of birds, produce safe food, safeguard the efficacy of antimicrobials and approach the issue of antimicrobial resistance with an attitude that the medical and agricultural communities need to work together to protect the health of both humans and livestock animals that feed the world.
4. Animal welfare policies
Consumers in the developed world, along with animal activists groups, are making animal welfare a bigger issue for the world’s chicken producers. The IPC recognizes the challenges it presents and is committed to working on welfare issues.
Sumner said the IPC recently worked on an ad hoc group that discussed the use of water-bath stunning of broilers being considered by the OIE. The IPC, along with other country’s delegations, worked to revise the OIE’s draft proposal.
Additionally, the IPC is active in the discussion surrounding the OIE’s Terrestrial Animal health Code chapters on the welfare of broilers.