英国猪走向中国餐桌 比国内猪肉价格低一倍

Britain’s ailing pig industry will be able to start exporting offal, trotters and other culinary delights to China, the world’s biggest pig meat market, under a breakthrough trade deal to be sealed as early as next week.

根据最早将于下周签署的一项突破性贸易协议，英国境况不佳的养猪产业将开始向全球最大的猪肉市场——中国——出口猪内脏、猪蹄和其他中国人喜欢的食材。

Jim Paice, the agriculture minister, is heading to Beijing this weekend to put the finishing touches to an agreement that has been five years in the making.

本周末，英国农业大臣吉姆?佩斯(Jim Paice)将赴北京，为一项磋商了5年的协议敲定最后一笔。

“I’m almost certain that during my visit we will be able to tie up the final loose ends and British pork can be on its way to China,” Mr Paice said. “We estimate we can easily sell ￡50m of pig meat almost at the drop of a hat.”

佩斯表示：“我几乎可以肯定，在访问期间，我们能够解决最后的未决问题，英国猪肉将进入中国。我们估计，英国很容易就可以在短期内向中国卖出5000万英镑的猪肉。”

British pig farmers, abattoirs and processors are struggling in the face of high input costs and of pricing constrained by aggressive retailers trying to win over cash-strapped consumers. The industry, which generates a net contribution of ￡300m to the economy, has halved in the past decade.

英国养猪场、屠宰场和加工厂正在艰难应对投入成本高、售价低的问题。咄咄逼人的零售商为了赢得囊中羞涩的消费者，压低了猪肉价格。该行业对英国经济的纯贡献达3亿英镑，但规模在过去10年间已经减少一半。

Sales of the “fifth quarter” – tails, ears and other parts spurned by British diners – would build on a healthy trade in chicken feet and hearts already sold to China.

英国已经向中国大量出口鸡爪和鸡心，现在，“第五部位”——英国人餐桌上所摒弃的猪尾巴、猪耳朵和猪的其他部位——的出口将为此锦上添花。

Selling the bits that would otherwise be binned, at a cost, should theoretically fatten the incomes of abattoirs and farmers, said Chris Jackson, export director at the British Pig Association. It should not result in pricier bacon at home.

英国养猪协会(British Pig Association)出口主管克里斯?杰克逊(Chris Jackson)表示，这些部位原本只能以较高的成本丢弃，现在销往中国，理论上可以增加屠宰场和农民的收入，而且应该不会导致英国国内培根价格上涨。

Chinese farmers sell their pigs for twice as much as their British peers, partly because of the country’s insatiable appetite for all things pork and “because they are not being screwed by the supermarkets – yet”, said Mr Jackson.

中国农民卖猪的价格比英国同行高一倍，这在一定程度上是因为中国对各种猪肉的胃口难以餍足，还“因为中国农民还没有被超市左右——至少目前没有”，杰克逊指出。

According to the OECD, China produces and consumes half the global output of pig meat. Chinese demand is growing as more wealth translates into more meat on dinner tables. “There is no doubt at all – and the Chinese are quite open about this – that they cannot produce their own pig meat supplies for the foreseeable future,” said Mr Paice.

经合组织(OECD)指出，中国生产和消费全球猪肉产量的一半。随着中国增长的财富转化成餐桌上更多的肉制品，中国人对肉类的需求还在继续增长。佩斯表示：“毫无疑问，在可预见的未来，中国生产的猪肉无法满足当地需求，中国人对此并不讳言。”

British pigs have greater fertility, with the average sow producing twice as many piglets a year – up to 32 – as her Chinese cousin. That explains the next export agenda: pig semen.

英国猪的繁殖力更强，平均每只母猪的年产仔量是中国母猪一倍，达到32只。这就滋生了下一个出口计划——猪精液。

The UK already sells live breeding pigs to China but has struggled to jump through veterinary hoops on semen. Mr Jackson said he will invite Chinese vets next week to make inspections in late July.

英国已经向中国出售活种猪，但猪精液还没有通过中国兽医的检验。杰克逊表示，下周他将邀请中国兽医在7月底对英国猪的精液作检查。

He believes genetics is “what China really wants”. Despite the small size of the British industry Mr Jackson says it is a world leader. “Even America comes to us to buy genetics, mainly pigs but also sheep and cattle.” Genetics improves pig economics, he says. British pigs can be fattened up for the kill in just three months but Chinese pigs take a year – or about 260 additional days of 6kg of cereal-based feed for half-a-billion animals. “Take that away and you can see how the genetics industry can do such a wonderful job for planet Earth,” said Mr Jackson.

他认为，基因才是“中国真正想要的”。杰克逊表示，尽管英国养猪产业规模小，却是全球的佼佼者。“连美国人都跑过来向我们购买基因，主要是猪的基因，不过也有牛羊。”他表示，基因可以改善养猪经济。英国猪只要3个月就能养够膘，屠宰，但中国猪要用1年——即中国的5亿头猪，每头要用6千克谷物饲料多喂养260天左右。杰克逊表示：“减去这些额外投入，你会发现基因工业可以给行星地球带来如此美妙的变化。”

While farmers app-laud Westminster’s efforts, even Mr Paice conceded the country has lost a head start. “The fact is we export more food to Belgium than we do to all the Bric countries [Brazil, Russia, India and China] together,” he said. “That’s a pretty damning indictment of our efforts.”

尽管猪农欢迎英国政府的努力，但佩斯也承认，英国已经输在了起跑线上。他说：“我们出口到比利时的食品都比出口到金砖四国（巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国）的总量还多。这真是我们工作不足的明证。”