A European Commission audit of Chinese producers of poultry and rabbit meat bound for the EU market found traceability and animal welfare issues, among other problems.

The commission has as a result listed actions that must be undertaken by the Chinese authorities to remedy the situation, with a deadline of February 28.

The audit looked at poultry and rabbit meat intended for human consumption to be exported to the EU, and whether China provided adequate guarantees that the production complies with the requirements laid down in EU legislation.

The audit was carried out in November, with the findings published last week.

Audit findings

The report indicated that the exports to the EU involve cooked poultry meat, which are required to come from Chinese slaughterhouses that "must be EU-listed".

One concern highlighted in the audit involved an inspection where duck meat products labelled as originating from Thailand were found in a consignment, though the accompanying animal health/official certificate indicated the origin as China.

The Chinese facility indicated that "it had accidentally receivedwrong packaging material".

The audit found that due to the lack of traceability, "there are no guarantees that the animals originate from EU registered farms".

The inspection also found products packaged for the EU in cold store rooms assigned to products for non-EU packages, "sealed with tape bearing EU oval identification mark and therefore, presumed to be eligible for the EU export chain".

"These rooms were in very poor condition as regards their maintenance, and frozen meat products were exposed to contamination due to their broken packages and wrapping."

As a result, the report said: “The official controls over the production of poultry and rabbit meat and products therefrom cannot provide satisfactory guarantees to support the relevant official certificates’ public health and animal welfare attestations."

It also found that “certification is compromised because of the missing or/and unreliable traceability information, the absence of adequate segregation procedures for EU and non-EU products, and the absence of official evidence ascertaining the compliance of meat and meat products intended to be exported to the EU.”

Additionally, the audit identified gaps in communication between the two Chinese authorities - General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) - and their staff.

There were also said to be "weaknesses in the detection of hygiene failures" and significant non-compliances in animal welfare in Chinese slaughterhouses.

These animal welfare issues included one slaughterhouse where there were significant issues with stunning, as well as "exposure to pre-shocking" of poultry.

The audit also indicated that not all the official veterinarians met were aware of EU animal welfare requirements and how to verify the effectiveness of stunning.

Issues

Other issues found during the audit include the following:

The audit team noted that officials met were “aware of some specific attestations included in the animal health/official certificates e.g., related to heat treatment requirement for poultry meat products and to some extent to animal welfare at the time of killing”. However, the audit team noted gaps in their knowledge in several areas related to these requirements.
The audit found that absence of a communication system between the two Chinese authorities, "particularly at the local level", regarding information relevant to requirements of the animal health/official certificates "jeopardises the reliability of certification”;
In addition, the shortcomings detected during the audit concerning the knowledge of EU requirements by the Chinese authorities' staff “put into question the effectiveness of the training system in place”.

Recommendations

The commission has listed actions that must be undertaken by the Chinese authorities to remedy the situation.

These require the authorities to:

Guarantee that fresh meat and meat products in the scope of this audit are derived from animals which have been treated at the time of killing in line with EU animal welfare requirements;
Ensure that certifying officers are made aware of these EU requirements and, accordingly, can attest to such requirements as required in [relevant] animal health/official certificates.

It also stated that the authorities should ensure that certifying officers are "fully conversant with the requirements they are attesting to" and "only certify to conditions supported by official evidence and verifiable”.

According to the audit, key attention should be given to “the origin of poultry meat products and animals from which meat is derived" and the requirements provided for in the animal health/official certificates.

EU Commission

A commission spokesperson said: “All food products entering the EU must comply with the same high standards for health and food safety as those produced here to protect the health and safety of our citizens.”

They added: “One of the main ways we ensure that products entering our market comply with our rules is through our audit system, meaning checks and controls at our borders and in third countries.”

Chinese authorities, consequently, have committed to undertake these by the end of February 2026.

The commission will monitor the replies and the implementation process to be put forward by the Chinese authorities.