The Ministry of Commerce applauded a WTO panel's decision on tariff quotas for China's duck meat product exports to the EU, but regretted the panel's rejection of China's claims for its chicken exports, a ministry official said on Tuesday.

The official's response came after a WTO dispute panel decided on Tuesday that the EU's allocation of tariff quotas among supplying countries was "inconsistent" with the requirements of the WTO.

In 2005, China filed a complaint with the WTO requesting consultations with the EU to modify the EU tariff concession on certain poultry meat products in 2006 and 2009.

In the cases, the EU failed to consider China's increased ability to export poultry products to the EU, which was a "special factor" that had to be taken into account by the EU when determining the tariff quotas, according to a statement on the WTO's website.

The EU gave most of its quota to Thailand and Brazil, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

To meet the EU's poultry demand, China has invested 2.8 billion yuan (407 million U.S. dollars) in transforming farms and updating manufacturing equipment, according to a statement released late Tuesday on the ministry's website.

China urges the EU to respect the WTO's decision and rectify its wrongful practices regarding tariff quotas on China's duck exports to establish a fair trade environment for Chinese companies, a ministry official said in the statement.

According to the WTO report, the panel rejected 13 other Chinese claims.

The industry website poultryworld.net in Netherlands reported in March 2016 that China's broiler meat exports were forecast at 380,000 tons for 2016. Japan and Hong Kong are the largest export destinations for China's broiler meat, with market shares of 42 percent and 34 percent, respectively, it said.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn