Romania’s domestic poultry breeders have spoken out unanimously against the importation of vast quantities of cheaper fowl, which are causing unfair competition and threatening bankruptcy for some in the industry.

Gathered at the Union of Fowl Breeders of Romania symposium, representatives of the domestic industry say that increasing imports from the EU have been encouraged by the incentives offered by the customs duty exemption, instigated this June. So far the domestic industry has held on, but struggling against the 17,000 tons imported during the first eight months of the year, the domestic Q3 chicken stock had dropped by 1.55m. On these figures, the Q4 production is expected to fall by a further 4,000 tons.