China Leads the Development! ISO International Standard "Operating Procedures of Chicken Slaughtering" Officially Released

    On November 14, 2025 (local time in Switzerland), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) officially released the international standard ISO 19599:2025 (Operating Procedures of Chicken Slaughtering). Led by the China National Innovation Center for Quality and Standards of Livestock and Poultry Slaughtering, this standard not only achieves a "historic breakthrough" for Shandong Province in leading the formulation of international standards in the animal husbandry sector but also marks the official entry of China's livestock and poultry slaughtering standard system onto the international stage, providing a scientific and standardized "Chinese Solution" for the global poultry slaughtering industry.

    As a key link connecting the breeding and consumption ends, the standardization level of livestock and poultry slaughtering is directly related to meat quality and safety, industrial development quality, and international market competitiveness. The newly released ISO 19599:2025 international standard focuses on the whole-chain management of chicken slaughtering, clearly specifying key technical details such as pre-slaughter requirements, core operating procedures, and storage and transportation specifications, while fully covering core dimensions including hygiene conditions, equipment technical parameters, and animal welfare protection. During the standard formulation process, it was jointly verified by industry experts from the United States, Australia, Russia, India, and other countries, and recognized as "standardized in procedure, scientific in content, and strong in practicality," with broad international applicability and guiding value.

    It is reported that this standard was successfully initiated in January 2023. During the standard compilation period, the China National Innovation Center for Quality and Standards of Livestock and Poultry Slaughtering gave full play to the resource integration and technical leadership roles of a national-level innovation platform, organizing domestic and foreign industry experts to conduct technical discussions, opinion consultations, and content refinement for six times. In October 2025, it successfully completed the Final Draft International Standard stage. In the voting by official ISO members, the standard was approved with a high approval rate of 95%, fully demonstrating the global poultry slaughtering industry's high recognition of the technical level and practical value of Chinese standards.

Standard Benefits for Enterprises and Industries Globally

1. For Chinese Enterprises

Breaking International Trade Barriers: The standard aligns Chinese chicken slaughter practices with global technical requirements, helping domestic enterprises gain international market recognition more smoothly . Products compliant with ISO 19599:2025 can avoid repeated adaptation to different national standards, significantly reducing export costs and market access time.

Driving Industrial Synergy: Leading enterprises can share standard-based practices to drive upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain toward unified quality standards . This synergy enhances the overall competitiveness of China's poultry industry cluster, especially benefiting regions with complete industrial chains.

Reducing Operational Risks: The full-chain specifications cover hygiene control and quality tracing, helping enterprises avoid food safety incidents and recall losses. This echoes the risk control logic of China's domestic slaughter regulations and further elevates enterprise management levels .

2. For International Enterprises

Unifying Technical Communication Framework: The standard resolves the long-standing problem of fragmented standards in the global poultry industry, eliminating communication costs caused by terminology and process differences . Enterprises across countries can conduct technology cooperation and product trade based on a consistent benchmark.

Lowering Compliance Costs: International enterprises no longer need to develop multiple sets of operating procedures for different markets. The standard's "strong practicality" recognized by global experts enables cost savings in equipment transformation and staff training .

Enhancing Consumer Trust: Standardized animal welfare protection and hygiene management help enterprises improve product reputation. For emerging markets, this provides a clear path to upgrade from informal slaughter to standardized production.

3. For Global Industry Development

Elevating Overall Safety Levels: The standard establishes minimum requirements for slaughter hygiene and quality control, promoting the elimination of backward production capacity and reducing food safety risks worldwide, similar to how China's domestic slaughter regulations safeguard "food on the tongue" .

Facilitating International Cooperation: With a unified standard, cross-border technology transfer and equipment export (such as China's advanced slaughter equipment) become more efficient. This accelerates the global integration of the poultry industry chain.

Setting Benchmarks for Sustainable Development: By integrating animal welfare and environmental protection requirements, the standard guides the industry toward green and humane development, responding to global calls for sustainable agriculture.

    As a core driver of industrial standardization, the China National Innovation Center for Quality and Standards of Livestock and Poultry Slaughtering has always adhered to the mission of "empowering industrial innovation and consolidating the safety line," continuously promoting the standardization, regularization, and internationalization of the slaughtering industry. Up to now, the center has led the formulation and revision of a total of 22 standards, including international standards, national standards, agricultural industry standards, and group standards. The release of the ISO 19599:2025 international standard is not only an important achievement of the Innovation Center in deepening industrial development and tackling technical challenges but also a vivid practice of China's animal husbandry industry moving from "following" to "leading" in terms of standards, demonstrating China's professional discourse power and sense of responsibility in the global livestock and poultry slaughtering field.

    In the next step, the China National Innovation Center for Quality and Standards of Livestock and Poultry Slaughtering will continue to play its role as a bridge and link, joining hands with enterprises in the industrial chain, scientific research institutions, and other stakeholders to continuously promote the implementation, popularization, and dynamic optimization of this international standard. It will enable the international standard to serve as an "accelerator" for industrial upgrading, inject sustained impetus into the high-quality development of China's meat industry, and convey the professional strength and standardization concept of China's slaughtering industry to the world.

(Note: This article was compiled and published based on content from the China National Livestock and Poultry Slaughter Quality Standards Innovation Center, and the copyright belongs to the original author.)