Agri-food businesses: Sale of defrosted poultry-meat

Information for Agri-food businesses in Northern Ireland on the sale of defrosted poultry-meat

Following the recent outbreak of avian influenza in Great Britain (GB), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and their counterparts the Welsh devolved Government have announced a period of pragmatic enforcement relating to the sale of defrosted poultry-meat.

This means that, subject to certain conditions, poultry-meat producers in England and Wales will be permitted to slaughter and freeze poultry so that it can be defrosted and sold again for a time limited period between 28 November and 31 December 2022.

How does this affect Northern Ireland?

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU regulations that prohibit the sale of defrosted poultry-meat continue to apply in Northern Ireland (EU Regulations 1308/2013 and 543/2008).

This means that Northern Ireland poultry-meat producers cannot legally sell poultry-meat that has been frozen and defrosted in Northern Ireland. However, any such NI produced poultry-meat will be permitted to be sold in England and Wales, assuming the conditions outlined by the relevant authorities in GB have been met.

While it is expected that a relatively small proportion of poultry-meat will need to be frozen and then defrosted prior to sale, UK retailers should be aware that such stock is not permitted for sale in Northern Ireland.

Retailers should therefore consider the most appropriate way to manage their supply chains to mitigate the risk of any defrosted poultry-meat entering the Northern Ireland market in contravention of EU regulations, whilst still ensuring there are sufficient stocks of poultry-meat to service the Northern Ireland market.

Further information

If you have any queries relating to this issue, please email the Poultry-meat Marketing Standards team at marketing.standards@daera-ni.gov.uk.

First published 11 November 2022