Meat processors in Japan have reported increased slaughter figures. According to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), Japanese beef plants processed over 107,000 cattle in July 2003.
Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) is to launch a nationwide campaign to promote Scotch lamb. The £200,000 UK-wide promotion is designed to stimulate Scottish sheep production.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has announced details of a new approval mark for small meat plants to comply with recent regulations regarding meat products.
Pig producers in the UK are calling for tighter legislation to govern the labelling of pork. Many producers claim that a current loophole in the law is allowing some processors to pass off foreign pork as British.
The UK's National Beef Association (NBA) has demanded that the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (MLC) act to reverse low cattle prices affecting farmers in the province.
The European Commission has decided to lift the last remaining restrictions imposed on meat imports from Swaziland and Botswana. The ban was imposed following outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The European Union is considering blocking imports of Polish meat products because many of the country's processing plants are likely to miss agreed deadlines to improve hygiene standards.
Welsh lamb has joined Cornish clotted cream, West Country farmhousecheddar cheese and stilton cheese on the list of 34 UK productsrecognised by the EU for their quality and regional identity.
A rising tide of imports of pig meat is coming into the UK but much of it which claims to be produced to UK specifications is not, according to the British Pig Executive (BPEX).
Two new adverts for the group's delicatessen and packaged meat and ready meals units helped France's Fleury Michon to an 11 per cent increase in sales in the first half of 2003.
Finnish group Atria is to become the first western company in the Lithuanian meat products market with the acquisition of a stake in local producer Saltuva.
Russian agriculture officials have presented the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with a shortlist of US processing plants approved to export poultry products to Russia.
Glanbia Meats Ireland has announced that it is to spend €27 million expanding its two production facilities in Edenderry, county Offaly and Roscrea, county Tipperary.
Ter Beke, the Belgian ready meals and processed meat producer, has signed a letter of intent to buy the ready meals arm of French group Agis for an undisclosed sum.
Fears that more than half the Russian quotas on meat imports would stay unallotted have proved to be unfounded, according to consultancy firm Market Advice.
The issue of the European pig meat market was raised by France at the recently concluded Agriculture/Fisheries Council of May 2003. France inquired into the possibility of introducing export refunds.
International food company Nutreco and Canada-based Genex Swine Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding today. This concludes the merger between Nutreco's swine genetics company, Hypor, and Genex.
The European Commission's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health met last week to discuss again the avian influenza situation in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Global ingredients giant Chr. Hansen is to attend Eurocarne, the 22nd International Exhibition of Meat and Meat Processing Industries. The event will be held in Verona, Italy, from 22 to 25 May 2003.
A new system for reporting deadweight pig prices is about to be launched in the UK which will bring benefits to the whole industry, according to the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC).
New proposals governing the humane slaughter of animals in the UK could have huge implications for Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as the British meat processing industry as a whole.
Europe's sheep population fell by four per cent last year, according to figures released from the EU's December sheep census. Within the major sheep-rearing countries however, the rate of decline varied greatly.
Following the possible outbreak of avian influenza in Germany last week, the European Commission has decided to reinforce the control measures already put in place by German authorities.
As the enlargement of the EU draws ever closer, the impact that this process will have on pork producers and processors within the new Member States is becoming a pressing concern.
The European Commission believes that the results of the Electronic Identification of Animals (Idea) project, presented yesterday, confirm the feasibility of electronically tagging cattle, sheep and goats.
High volumes of organic meat imports are entering the Italian market as domestic supplies continue to fall short of demand, according to a new Organic Monitor report.
With the French poultry sector in decline as a result of falling prices, increased competition and overproduction, Duc is looking to foreign markets - and innovative products - to help it survive.
Italian meat packer and foodservice operator Cremonini has reported net profits of €2.5 million for 2002, a welcome return to the black after the company incurred losses totalling some €13.5 million in 2001.
The BHJ Group has made and agreement with Danpo and Rose Poultry to expand cooperation regarding utilization of by-products from the Danish poultry slaughterhouses through a joint venture.
