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“The amount we could export would not solve their egg shortage,” says the head of the Finnish Poultry Association.
US authorities have turned to Europe for help with the country’s severe egg shortage. The shortfall is due to bird flu, which has plagued the United States for several years.
The Finnish Poultry Association says it has been contacted about exporting eggs to the US. The organisation’s executive director, Veera Lehtilä, told Yle on Saturday that exporting eggs does not seem to be possible at the moment because no market access negotiations have been held with US authorities. This can be a drawn-out process involving extensive inspections and studies.
“Launching exports is not a simple matter since there are no agreed rules in place,” said Lehtilä.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, a response has been drafted in cooperation with the Finnish Food Authority and sent to US officials.
Finland does not have national approval to export egg products to the US. Lehtilä said that potential exports would require a lot of investigation and red tape, as Finland has never sent eggs there before.
Even if Finland were able to start exporting, she pointed out, it would not be of much benefit to the US.
“Millions of birds have had to be culled there because of bird flu. We have four million laying hens in total in Finland. The amount we could export would not solve their egg shortage,” she said.
The US Department of Agriculture says that more than 35 million birds were killed in response to avian flu outbreaks in commercial flocks in the first two months of this year alone.
According to the Danish magazine AgriWatch, the US has also requested eggs from Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.
One of Sweden’s biggest egg producers, Kronägg, told the daily Aftonbladet that it is unlikely to export eggs to the US, saying it would be difficult due to various export restrictions. Meanwhile, there is also an egg shortage in Europe.
“Bird flu is not just an American issue; it is a serious global problem,” said Lehtilä. “Although Finland has managed to deal with it well so far, it requires continuous work to prevent it,” she said. In 2022, many chickens were also culled in Europe due to bird flu.
According to the Finnish Food Authority, some countries have egg export agreements with the US, including the Netherlands, Lithuania and Canada. CNN reports that Turkey plans to export eggs to the US.
