An important announcement for the Chilean poultry sector was made by the Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, after meeting with ChileCarne and ChileHuevos to analyze the situation in which the country is regarding avian influenza for 2024. It is a new insurance for birds against exotic diseases, which will mitigate the negative effects among small and medium-sized producers.
“This is a product of the ministry’s work with the SAG, Agroseguros and the unions, both large, medium and small. We have put out to tender and managed to place insurance for exotic diseases in birds and in this way thousands of producers of up to a thousand birds supported by INDAP will be covered. Also, at a higher level, small laying companies in the egg industry with up to 20 thousand birds will be supported with this measure,” explained the Secretary of State.
The risks covered by this insurance contemplate the slaughter ordered by the health authority (SAG) as a result of some exotic disease such as avian influenza or others covered by the policy, which will operate as long as there is an official slaughter resolution.
“We continue working with good news on avian flu; only six cases in December, which are wild birds. We are free, there are no cases either in the interface with small chicken producers,” Valenzuela noted.
Along those lines, Juan Carlos Domínguez, president of ChileCarne, said that “this insurance is complemented by the measures that producers are taking to avoid avian influenza. Since August 2023, Chile is a country free of avian influenza and as we want to continue maintaining that condition, we are focusing on improving biosafety measures in all our facilities.”
For his part, Ignacio Correa, president of Chilehuevos, noted that “having this policy allows 170 hatcheries, which represent 5.3% of the country’s egg production, to have their birds insured today. Some larger companies also have it, but there is a long-term task of continuing to obtain policies. Today, 30% of the birds are insured and this means that, if the disease occurs, the government, through the insurance company, will pay these small producers, which will allow them to continue producing eggs and guaranteeing the food security that Chile needs.”
Operation detail
As Alberto Niño de Zepeda, executive director of Agroseguros, explained, “the insurance seeks early reporting of cases of avian influenza. In this context, the policy insurance is for backyard properties such as industrial properties. In the case of peasant family farming, you must be registered in the SAG, have the sole livestock role and have a chicken coop where you can keep your own birds separate from wild ones. For industrial farms, from 1,000 to 20,000 birds, it is required to have RUT, to have the SAG declaration of existence of animals updated and to control the entry of people to the farm, in addition to having the basic health management that every agricultural property must have.
Finally, Carlos Orellana, head of the SAG Livestock Protection division, noted that “this year, at the same time, the avian influenza situation was quite complex and today, through public-private work that has manifested itself here, we are in better conditions to face the disease. We can guarantee citizens that they can safely consume this type of product, but the most important thing is that we can agree to improve production and biosafety standards, which allow us to have better tools and guide public policies towards of animal health.”
2024-01-08 21:48:53
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