EU Commissioner Supports Danish Crown Exports
Phil Hogan, the European Union's Commissioner for Agriculture, expressed his excitement last Friday upon witnessing a shipment of beef and by-products from Danish Crown's slaughterhouses in Husum and Sokołów in Poland, being transported from Husum to Hong Kong. Hogan stated, "I am extremely pleased with this shipment, which is a direct outcome of the agreement I finalized with the Hong Kong authorities during my visit in November last year." The agreement stipulates that Hong Kong will no longer require that meat imported from the EU must be dispatched from the country where the animals are born, raised, and slaughtered. Danish Crown has welcomed this change. Jacob Rahbek, Senior Manager, Export, Danish Crown Beef, expressed his gratitude to Hogan, stating, "Due to Phil Hogan's exceptional efforts, we can now dispatch meat from animals originating from various countries to Hong Kong. This opens up new possibilities and provides us with a positive perspective for expanding our trade with Hong Kong." The ability to ship Polish products from Germany is beneficial for the Sokołów slaughterhouse. Rahbek added, "Previously, the transportation costs made it too expensive for us to send products to Hong Kong. The elimination of this hurdle is an example of how minor advancements made by the EU can have a significant impact." Hogan views the shipment from Husum as a tangible example of how his diplomatic offensive strategy last year has facilitated the potential for food exports from the EU. Hogan, along with the Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, and the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, have been working tirelessly to find new opportunities for EU products. He stated, "This work will continue on behalf of EU farmers to ensure the ongoing success of EU's exports of agricultural products, which reached a record-high one trillion DKK for the current year in November 2016. This is a testament to EU farmers, who produce the world's finest food."
