TRUE OR FALSE. “Do “Ukrainian chicken imports” represent “nothing compared to Brazilian chicken imports”, as Raphaël Glucksmann asserts?

In the midst of a debate on agricultural imports from Ukraine, the head of the PS/Place publique list Raphaël Glucksmann affirms that “Ukrainian chicken imports today are nothing compared to Brazilian chicken imports”. The European Union imports more Brazilian chicken, but Ukraine comes second.

Discussions are still underway within the European Union to cap agricultural imports from Ukraine. The agreement, reached during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday March 20, between the Member States and the European Parliament, was finally suspended, pending the final green light from France, Poland and Italy. In this context, the issue of Ukrainian chicken returns to the table. “I would like to put things in context, imports of Ukrainian chicken today are nothing compared to imports of Brazilian chicken“, launched Wednesday on Sud Radio the socialist candidate and Place publique, Raphaël Glucksmann. True or false?

Brazil, leading exporter of chicken to the European Union

It is true that the European Union imports more Brazilian chicken, Brazil is the leading exporting country to the EU, but Ukraine comes in second place and is catching up. In 2023, the European Union imported 320,000 tonnes of Brazilian chicken, according to data compiled by Anvol, the broiler poultry inter-professional association, based on figures from France AgriMer which we were able to consult. This represents a third of the European Union’s chicken imports. In the same year, the EU imported 220,000 tonnes from Ukraine, or 22% of imports.

In France, it is more difficult to have a precise vision. According to figures from France AgriMer, France imported approximately the same volume of chicken from Brazil and Ukraine. This actually represents a minority of all the chicken we import, less than 5% of the total. France mainly buys its chicken from Poland (around 250,000 tonnes), Belgium (200,000 tonnes) and the Netherlands (around 140,000 tonnes). But it is difficult to know the precise origin of the chicken that ends up on our plate, because the products pass through other European countries before arriving here. The chicken that France buys from the Netherlands, for example, comes partly from Brazil or Ukraine.

Ukraine is catching up

These chickens from abroad do not in any case represent the majority of chicken that we consume. Three quarters of chickens eaten in Europe are raised in the European Union. In France, one in two chickens on our plate comes from abroad.

Although Ukraine exports less chicken than Brazil to the European Union, it is catching up. In two years, between 2021 and 2023, imports of Ukrainian chicken to the EU have more than doubled. Between 2022 and 2023, after the start of the war in Ukraine and the removal of customs duties, they increased by 43%. At the same time, Ukraine’s market share increased from 16% of total chicken imports to 22%, eating into Brazil’s market share.