Fresh poultry returns to city’s markets

The retail sale of fresh poultry meat will return to Macau’s market this Friday, following the temporary cessation of retail sales in the region in 2017 to curb the spread of bird flu.

The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has stated that Guangdong and Macau have coordinated customs clearance and priority inspection and quarantine processes to ensure that live poultry arrives in Macau for sale within 1.5 hours after leaving the factory from Feb. 2.

The IAM assured that public that the products supplied in the local market will indicate the slaughter date, and will be sold according to food safety and hygiene requirements to ensure consumer safety.

In a briefing session with the food industry, the government pledged that it would continue random health inspections and sampling of retail fresh food establishments.

Nam Kwong Group, the live poultry supplier, said the first batch arriving this Friday will consist of 1,800 fresh chickens.

Data from the bureau shows that there are about 15,600 frozen chickens supplied to Macau daily. Authorities will coordinate with relevant stakeholders and adjust accordingly to the market response to “fresh chickens.”

Gongbei Customs said that during the past Spring Festival, Macau’s demand for fresh food supplied from the mainland increased by about 20% to 30%. 

Back in January 2017, Macau suspended its live poultry trade for at least three days immediately after a chicken sample tested positive for the H7 strain of bird flu.

It was announced that the flu-positive chickens were imported from the mainland, and all poultry markets in Macau would be subjected to strict sterilization procedures, leading to the suspension of the live poultry trade.

After a month, the government announced that live poultry imports to Macau would cease permanently due to concerns over the bird flu virus.

Macau has implemented the so-called“human-poultry segregation” measure since 2017, replacing the supply of live poultry with refrigerated poultry. 

In 2016, the region had three suspensions of the live poultry trade for similar reasons.

Meanwhile, IAM stated that it developed the “Hygienic Guidelines on Retail Sale of Fresh Chickens,” which stipulate food hygiene requirements and points to note in relation to the transportation, storage, display and sale of fresh chickens. It also holds briefings for the sector and calls for regular assessments. IAM has pledged to carry out periodic health inspections as well as testing of random samples of retail establishments selling fresh and live food.

Editors’ note: The text was corrected. “Live poultry” was replaced by “fresh poultry” or “fresh chickens”, which reflects the actual measure of the municipal authorities.