Three French charcuterie firms have been awarded licences to export their products to China, Paris has confirmed.

French agriculture minister Stéphane Le Foll confirmed the deals at the France-China food safety conference held in Beijing yesterday (12 May), organised by Biomérieux, Carrefour and Danone.

It followed the visit at the start of the year by Chinese inspectors to their premises to verify production conditions.

The three firms in question are Salaisons et Conserves du Rouergue, Brocéliande-ALH and Haraguy-Jambon de Bayonne, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed to just-food today.

Meanwhile, following modifications to regulations governing the import of dairy products to China, effective 1 May, all firms have had to make a fresh application for a licence.

In the case of France, 236 firms have been granted approval.

“Applications from other French firms, in both the charcuterie and dairy sectors, are under consideration and could lead to approval being granted in the coming months,” the spokesman added.