The Poultry Product Council elected a new managing body and a new Chairman. We asked László Bárány, new Chairman, about his plans for the future.

• The Poultry Product Council elects a new managing body and Chairman every three years. You have been elected the new Chairman. What does your scope of authority as Chairman include?
- To represent the domestic poultry industry, 80-85% of which is still possessed by Hungarian businesses. The annual output of the industry exceeds 450 thousand tonnes, and poultry is the country’s second most important export, the first being grains. The industry directly employs 35 to 45 thousand people, and if we include the suppliers, too, the number is 100 thousand. The value of the annual poultry export is 400 million USD. Currently, annual poultry consumption in Hungary is 34-35 kg per person, which has exceeded pork consumption for eight straight years. Annual pork consumption is 25 kg per person.

• The numbers are impressive yet the sector is going through a difficult period now.
- We have to admit that the sector is in crisis. This is true even if poultry industry is the only one of all agricultural and animal breeding industries the frequently changing regulations of the post-Socialist era did not wreak havoc on. Production volumes have been unchanged for the past one and a half decades, and they are expected to be maintained. The reason for the steady figures is that the technical modernization of broiler and turkey production facilities already took place in the late 1990’s. Water fowls managed to preserve their market position. The series of bankruptcies that swept the sector in the early 1990’s posed a problem, and unfortunately reoccurred over the past two years.

• What can be done about the avian flu crisis?
- The avian flu crisis meant to the poultry sector what floods mean to agriculture. The general public have understood by now that the sector is unable to cope with the crisis unaided. Mr József Gráf, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Breeding promised on several occasions that the Ministry would provide help for the sector to tackle the situation. We cannot afford to let the avian flu crisis wreak havoc on domestic poultry production because both poultry breeders and consumers would suffer its consequences. Let me also add that the EU’s grain intervention price system and practice have had an adverse effect on the poultry sector because they divested us from the advantages offered by the inexpensive feed and qualified labour.

• New chairman, new programme?
- My programme is two-fold: there is a short- and a long-term goal to it. The short-term programme includes the rapid recovery from the avian flu crisis as well as the professional management of the sector in cooperation with the competent authorities. I think that all participants of the sector have the ability and willingness to work towards this goal. The long-term goal of my programme concerns a rather delicate area: the regulation of the internal market without conflicting the EU’s requirements. For this, a new kind of communication and a new strategy, which is built upon trust, are necessary. The launch of the “Good Hungarian Poultry” trademark was intended to promote these goals. In the next period, we would like to raise consumers’ awareness about the importance of this initiative because it is the consumer that is our real ally.

• The companies that caused problems to the sector are represented in the Poultry Product Council. What will happen to them?
- We intend to and will put the affairs of the Council in order and expel the participants of the grey and black economy from the market. To this end, we are seeking to obtain licences from the authorities both in the fields of food safety and fiscal affairs. We know that many people will disapprove of these measures, but we are also aware that we can only cooperate with those who put their cards on the table and compete honestly. It is time for the legitimate members of the Council to form purchasing and sales cooperatives that are able to combat the authoritative supermarket chains.

• Who are your potential allies?
- Let me make it clear: we are not seeking to get aid but to form alliances with the food authorities, the revenue office, the customs and excise authority, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Finance Ministry. We have contacted them and received positive replies. The discussions we have had with them were not informal talks but were intended to seriously coordinate our professional programmes. The most important task of the Poultry Product Council in the near future is to put the achievements into practice and continuously provide information thereof.

Magyar Mezőgazdaság / 28 June 2006