Tegel alert to export chances from bird flu

Asia's bird flu epidemic could be good news for New Zealand's poultry industry.

Tegel Foods managing director Bruce Scott said there was potential for the company to quadruple its chicken livestock exports to Asia.

If that happened, Taranaki would benefit as the company's breeding programme was based in the region.

Tegel at present exports 400,000 breeding birds to Asia.

In terms of breeding stock, New Zealand could export up to four times more than the 600,000 to 700,000 it needed to meet its domestic market requirements, Scott said.

Exporting live breeder chickens was a growth industry for the company's Taranaki unit.

Although New Zealand would not be in the league of countries such as Brazil and the United States in terms of chicken livestock volumes, there were valuable niche opportunities available, he said.

"Our livestock has an excellent reputation internationally," the Tegel chief said. "We are now responding to a steady stream of export inquiries."

Every nine months Tegel buys a new consignment of Ross brand eggs from Scotland-based Aviagen, the world's largest poultry breeder.

They are flown to a special Tegel-operated quarantine farm near Rotorua where they are hatched and reared for 20 weeks before being transferred to Taranaki as top-line breeding stock.

New Zealand's poultry industry has been on high alert since the outbreak of the new strain of avian flu in Asia.

The Poultry Industry Association said the biggest risk for New Zealand was from migrating birds or overseas travellers carrying the virus.

- NZPA