European meat company HKScan Group will soon commence the exports of Finnish pork to China.
The firm's pork slaughtering facility at Forssa in Finland is expected to receive export certification from the Chinese food authorities, who conducted inspections in August 2014.
HKScan Exports and Away from Home business head Jukka Nikkinen said that the launch of Finnish pork exports to China will be a major milestone in the company's strategy to expand its export footprint.
Besides meat, HKScan has long-term plans to begin exporting other meat products such as poultry meat, processed meats and convenience meals.
Nikkinen said: "We devoted much time and effort into preparing this export project together with the authorities.
"The strong support of the Finnish authorities and close collaboration between our industry, political decision-makers and officials have been crucial to its progress."
"After the forthcoming official export certification, we will continue our efforts to gain similar approvals for Swedish exports."
HKScan also exports meat to a number of EU countries and to long-haul markets such as New Zealand and Japan. The Forssa production facility is already ISO 9001, 14001 and 22 000-certified. It has also gained export certifications from the US and Russia.
The facility employs nearly 500 people.
