Russia resumes poultry meat supplies to Philippines after hiatus since 2021

MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) - Russia has resumed supplies of poultry products to the Philippines after the lifting of a ban that had been in effect since 2021.

As reported by GAP Resurs (a leading broiler meat producer in Russia), the first container following the ban with the company's chicken broiler meat products passed customs clearance at the port of Cebu (Philippines) and was delivered to the consignee's warehouse.

A batch of 27 tonnes was released by Stavropol Broiler LLC (a branch of Nevinnomyssk Poultry Meat Processing Plant) and shipped to the Philippines from the port of Novorossiysk in early September. The container arrived at the destination point on November 8, but could not be unloaded promptly due to a typhoon that hit the archipelago, GAP Resurs said.

The resumption of supplies became possible in July this year after the lifting of the ban on imports of Russian poultry products, introduced by the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry in 2021 and the approval of an updated version of the veterinary certificate for exporting poultry meat and offal from Russia.

Currently, nine Russian enterprises which are producers of this product category are included in the Philippine national register. Four of them are structural divisions of GAP Resurs.

"Despite emerging difficulties, GAP Resurs continues to develop exports in this direction and expects to increase supplies next year," GAP Resurs said.

As the head of the National Meat Association, Sergei Yushin, previously told Interfax, the Philippines is an attractive market for Russian exporters primarily because of its fast-growing population. "It could already reach 120 million people this year. And this is a very young population. Overall, the average Filipino has a low income, but the country's economy is one of the fastest-growing in Asia - over the last four years, its GDP has grown 5%-7% annually," he said.

He said that the Philippines was a major poultry and pork importer, with almost 360,000 tonnes of poultry meat imports in 2024 and further growth expected this year.

GAP Resurs has been operating on the market since 2002. The group's production divisions, implementing all technological processes from growing crops, producing feed and vegetable oils to meat processing, producing flour and dairy products, are located in 24 regions of the Southern, North Caucasian, Central, Volga and Northwestern Federal Districts.

In 2024, the company produced 1.07 million tonnes of broiler meat in live weight, maintaining its leadership in the Russian market for this type of product, 1.92 million tonnes of feed, 346,000 tonnes of vegetable oils, and 171,000 tonnes of meat delicatessen and semi-finished products.

The company is also a major exporter of products, supplying them to 75 countries worldwide. In 2024, exports grew 25.5% to 182,000 tonnes.

The group's land bank amounts to 680,000 hectares.