Fresh beef corridor to be open between Argentina and the US
Argentina is on the verge of signing a deal that would allow fresh beef from South American country to enter the US market after 17 years of ban due to foot and mouth disease, according to USNews.
The agreement consists of a two-way trade, with a 20,000-tonne limit for Argentinian beef an no limit for US beef, and it could be signed within days, according to Argentina's international trade secretary, Marisa Bircher.
"We are negotiating the reopening to happen over the days ahead. All the technical and administrative questions have been settled", she told Reuters in an interview.
US beef passed a bureaucratic hurdle needed to access Argentina last week, according to a notice posted on Wednesday on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service website.
Before any US beef can be exported to Argentina, meat companies need to register their products, processing plants and labels with Argentina’s National Service for Agrifood Health and Quality, mentioned Joe Schuele, spokesman for the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
"Opening the border to raw beef from Argentina is certain to put downward pressure on U.S. cattle prices, and meat packers will be able to use this cheaper, undifferentiated beef as a direct substitute for beef produced by US cattle producers", declared Schuele.
The United States produced 11.9 million tonnes of beef last year and exported 1.3 million tonnes, according to USDA data.
Argentina produced 2.8 million tonnes of beef and veal in 2017, exceeding its domestic consumption by 293,000 tonnes in 2017. Nevertheless, the domestic demand is declining in Argentina and that could lead to an increase in exports for the next years.
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