ABIEC and China Meat Association sign memorandum to harmonize beef cut nomenclature for exports
The landmark agreement aims to standardize product naming conventions across shipments, enhancing security, predictability, and efficiency in bilateral trade.
The document was signed by ABIEC President Roberto Perosa and CMA President Chen Wei during an institutional meeting at the Chinese entity's headquarters. Under the memorandum, both associations will jointly develop and implement a "Unified List of Bovine Product Names." This list will apply to all authorized Brazilian processing facilities exporting to China, with the explicit goal of mitigating customs confusion, simplifying commercial processes, and providing a standardized reference for industry stakeholders.
According to Roberto Perosa, the agreement marks a significant operational upgrade for Brazilian exporters. “Today, we have established an agreement between ABIEC and the China Meat Association to align all nomenclatures for meat cuts bound for China. This is a major step forward: it prevents regulatory contradictions during customs clearance at various Chinese ports and streamlines operations for Brazilian exporters,” Perosa stated.
Perosa further emphasized that the alignment instills greater confidence in commercial workflows. "Brazilian exporters can now be completely assured that the product names printed on their packaging are mutually approved by both ABIEC and the China Meat Association," he added. The ABIEC president also noted that while the document will now be formally submitted to Chinese regulatory authorities, a preliminary understanding is already in place to secure its official approval.
The memorandum explicitly addresses challenges stemming from the recent expansion of authorized Brazilian plants exporting to China. This rapid growth led to a fragmentation of product descriptions for identical beef cuts, subsequently complicating customs clearance, commercial documentation, logistics, and trade data tracking.
Chen Wei, President of the China Meat Association, highlighted that the agreement will fortify and normalize bilateral meat trade. “We believe that signing this memorandum will help standardize and regulate trade in meat products between China and Brazil. Moving forward, we also intend to further strengthen our technical and standards-based cooperation,” Wei said.
The agreement stipulates that the standardized list can be adopted voluntarily in commercial contracts, invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, and customs documentation. Additionally, it establishes a framework for periodic technical reviews between both entities to update nomenclatures in response to shifting market trends and new product developments.
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