Meat: Imports

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) volume and (b) monetary value of each meat product imported from (i) Argentina, (ii) Botswana, (iii) Brazil, (iv) China, (v) Democratic Republic of Congo, (vi) Ecuador, (vii) Egypt, (viii) Israel, (ix) the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, (x) Russia, (xi) South Africa, (xii) Turkey and (xiii) Vietnam was in each of the last five years. (291909)

The following table provides details of imports of meat and meat products from the specified countries, as recorded in the Official Overseas Trade Statistics, for the period 2004-08.

*UK imports of meat and meat products from selected countries for 2004 to 2008*
			2004	2005	2006
Country	Type	Cut	£000	Tonnes	£000	Tonnes	£000	Tonnes
Argentina	Beef	Boneless	24,188	8,641	28,413	9,226	20,299	5,128
		Edible offal	165	169	376	265	98	57
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	11,259	8,931	10,164	7,309	8,212	4,906
		Other cuts with bone in	¹—	¹—	16	11	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Bone in	67	66	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Boneless	1,306	1,015	1,782	1,276	1,322	997
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	24	14	¹—	¹—	71	50
		Whole	148	249	350	485	148	228
	Goat	Carcases and half carcases	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Lamb	Boneless	297	180	1,066	515	1,108	696
		Carcases and half carcases	2,285	1,496	2,012	1,233	337	227
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Meat	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sheep	Bone in	54	42	69	34	562	275
		Boneless	36	24	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sheep and goat	Edible offal	3	8	65	107	57	76

Botswana	Beef	Boneless	15,422	4,848	11,351	3,461	8,317	2,380
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	506	285	376	201	538	235

Brazil	Beef	Boneless	60,783	34,588	59,134	32,120	68,290	28,340
		Carcases and half carcases	22	23	32	23	¹—	¹—
		Edible offal	324	331	323	339	163	163
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	72,984	58,677	73,581	53,237	77,097	50,305
		Other cuts with bone in	¹—	¹—	93	33	16	12
	Chicken	Bone in	7	12
		Boneless	46,060	34,891	59,759	48,194	24,158	16,846
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	9,445	6,148	14,087	10,224	13,540	9,324
		Whole	2,674	4,674	1,902	2,822	1,677	2,711
	Homogenised preparations	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Lamb	Boneless	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Carcases and half carcases	30	17	14	17	¹—	¹—
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Edible offal	¹—	¹—		¹—	29	24
		Meat	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	6,957	5,672
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	2	1
	Sheep	Bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sheep and goat	Edible offal	73	63	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Turkey	Bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	29	19
		Boneless	452	324	220	144	161	117
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	5,451	4,233	1,063	863	138	96

China	Beef	Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	160	109	30	19
	Lamb	Boneless	¹—	¹—	20	4	30	13
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	62	18	54	22
	Sheep	Bone in	¹—	¹—	73	20	¹—	¹—

Egypt	Sheep and goat	Edible offal	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	6	6

Israel	Chicken	Bone in	45	17	22	9	25	7
		Boneless	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Edible offal	1	0	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	69	20	53	15	35	8
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	2	1
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	59	7	42	3	93	6
	Sausages and similar products	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	23	7	11	3	¹—	¹—
	Turkey	Bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Boneless	180	97	¹—	¹—	21	9
		Edible offal	1	1	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	584	278	107	32	48	16
		Whole	1	1	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—

South Africa	Beef	Boneless	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	519	388	399	254	197	118
	Chicken	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	42	19
	Duck, goose and guinea fowl	Bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Game (not elsewhere stated)	Meat and edible meat offal	95	31	69	16	58	15
	Game or rabbit	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Meat and edible meat offal	62	15	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	7	4	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sheep	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—

Turkey	Beef	Boneless	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	4	1
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	155	160	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Boneless	38	13	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Pig	Meat	¹—	¹—	9	6	¹—	¹—
	Sausages and similar products	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—

Vietnam	Chicken	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	30	20
	Frogs' legs	Meat and edible meat offal	¹—	¹—	23	9	10	4
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	9	2	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Reptiles	Meat and edible meat offal	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—

*20072008*
Country	Type	Cut	£000	Tonnes	£000	Tonnes
Argentina	Beef	Boneless	13,755	3,481	14,055	3,051
		Edible offal	82	58	175	74
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	10,391	6,987	13,764	6,731
		Other cuts with bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Boneless	1,644	994	3,113	1,603
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	370	201	576	210
		Whole	1,557	2,168	1,813	1,929
	Goat	Carcases and half carcases	26	19	¹—	¹—
	Lamb	Boneless	602	356	1,155	503
		Carcases and half carcases	256	191	468	286
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Meat	34	24	43	20
	Sheep	Bone in	539	294	345	147
		Boneless	81	48	¹—	¹—
	Sheep and goat	Edible offal	90	68	8	6

Botswana	Beef	Boneless	13,158	3,897	10,539	3,247
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	739	273	¹—	¹—

Brazil	Beef	Boneless	61,333	25,679	14,798	5,422
		Carcases and half carcases	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Edible offal	56	68	35	15
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	80,813	58,458	64,272	35,306
		Other cuts with bone in	99	12	105	48
	Chicken	Bone in	¹—	¹—	78	92
		Boneless	11,432	7,456	10,189	5,926
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	22,260	14,795	42,320	21,772
		Whole	3,217	4,347	4,626	4,450
	Homogenised preparations	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	28	9
	Lamb	Boneless	30	12	51	18
		Carcases and half carcases	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Edible offal	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Meat	26,745	17,829	34,455	20,693
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	13	8	¹—	¹—
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	14	6
	Sheep	Bone in	20	12	52	25
	Sheep and goat	Edible offal	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Turkey	Bone in	¹—	¹—	349	126
		Boneless	937	440	2,356	1,056
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	305	162	252	92

China	Beef	Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	142	99	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	93	45	198	71
	Lamb	Boneless	43	18	34	19
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sheep	Bone in	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—

Egypt	Sheep and goat	Edible offal	46	44	25	20

Israel	Chicken	Bone in	66	23	13	4
		Boneless	¹—	¹—	12	4
		Edible offal	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	55	23	¹—	¹—
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	5	1
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	108	8	¹—	¹—
	Sausages and similar products	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Turkey	Bone in	205	81	72	26
		Boneless	45	18	441	151
		Edible offal	3	6	3	4
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	524	257	68	22
		Whole	4	2	¹—	¹—

South Africa	Beef	Boneless	¹—	¹—	1	0
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	51	34	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Duck, goose and guinea fowl	Bone in	5	1	¹—	¹—
	Game (not elsewhere stated)	Meat and edible meat offal	179	63	¹—	¹—
	Game or rabbit	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	20	1	¹—	¹—
	Other (not elsewhere stated)	Meat and edible meat offal	9	2	¹—	¹—
		Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	5	0	¹—	¹—
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sheep	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	526	157	532	146

Turkey	Beef	Boneless	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
		Meat and offal (other than liver) inc. corned beef	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Chicken	Boneless	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Pig	Meat	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Sausages and similar products	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	1	0	¹—	¹—

Vietnam	Chicken	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Frogs' legs	Meat and edible meat offal	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Poultry	Prepared or preserved meat, offal or blood	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
	Reptiles	Meat and edible meat offal	1	1	¹—	¹—
Notes: ‘0’ = quantity less than half the unit shown ¹— = nil values Source: HM Revenue and Customs Data prepared by Trade Statistics, Economics and Statistics Programme, DEFRA © Crown Copyright

It should be noted that imports of certain meats from many of these countries are not permitted. The following provides details of these import restrictions:

Country	Import restrictions
Brazil	Bone in beef meat (inc carcases and half carcases)
Brazil	Sheep meat, inc lamb and goat meat
Argentina	Sheep and goat meat/lamb (only from May 2002)
Israel	Beef
China	Sheep meat inc lamb
Turkey	Beef, pig meat, sheep meat
Russia	Pig meat
Turkey	All poultry meat
Vietnam	All poultry meat
Egypt	All poultry meat
China	All poultry meat was prohibited from China in 2004

Where imports are not permitted we believe that any imports recorded in the Overseas Trade Statistics represent consignments which have been exported from GB, rejected and returned or goods where the incorrect customs code have been entered.

There was no recorded trade in meat and meat products during this period for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Russia or West Bank/Gaza Strip. West Bank/Gaza Strip is the recognised designation for the Palestinian region used by HMRC.

Volume 497: debated on Wednesday 14 October 2009