Combined imports of Thai frozen and processed chicken by the EU and Japan during the first six months this year rose 2.6 per cent equivalent to about US$1.08 billion, according to Nantawan Sakuntanak, director-general of International Trade Promotion Department.

Exports of Thai fresh and processed chicken this year are projected at between 560,000-570,000 tonnes valued about 78 billion baht, up from 530,000 tonnes valued at 70 billion baht in 2013. However, projection on exports this year is still lower than the earlier target, she said.

According to Bernama.com, Ms Nantawan said that several fast food chains, especially the well-known Family Mart of Japan which has more than 10,000 outlets have expressed interests in importing Thai chicken.

The Japanese government has imposed stricter measure on chicken imported into Japan and Thai operators have to maintain production and packaging qualities in order to be able to expand export markets in the future, she said.