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Uruguay targets EU tariff free feed-lot beef quota

Thursday, October 7th 2010 - 00:24 UTC
Full article
Fernando Perez Abella, Vice-president of INAC Fernando Perez Abella, Vice-president of INAC

Uruguay is optimistic about taking a share of the tariff free 20.000 tons of the feed-lot beef quota which the European Union establishes annually. The dossier with all the requested information has been sent to the EU and if finally approved would further boost the Uruguayan cattle and meat industries which are experiencing one of its best moments in history.

The EU quota with preferential tariff for beef from cattle fed on grains has been set at 20.000 tons for the next three years and will then increase to 45.000 annually.

“Uruguay complies with all the requisites, so I’m optimistic, almost certain we are going to achieve a share of that quota”, said Fernando Perez Abella, deputy head of the Uruguayan National Meats Institute, INAC.

Abella said the approval is also a challenge for Uruguayan livestock farmers since they have been “pushed aside” from the best farmland by agriculture and will have to adapt to the new scenario which is the feed-lot system for the final fattening of cattle.

“A share of the quota would come in very handy for the changes undergoing in the cattle breeding industry”.

The EU has an annual quota of high quality beef totalling 60.000 tons of the so called ‘Hilton cuts’ which has an ad valorem tariff of 20%. The United States has 19% of the total quota equivalent to 11.500 tons.

Abella said that Uruguay has a privileged position as a world producer and exporter of top quality beef and the main problem now is that “we don’t have sufficient cattle to exploit that potential and edge we enjoy over other competitors including the United States”.

The Uruguayan official said that this was pointed out during the recent world meat congress held in Buenos Aires where the US delegation praised Uruguay’s marketing of its beef products and added value policies.

“Uruguay is no longer only a cattle breeding country: we now have a healthy combination of agriculture with livestock, which will also be boosted when the feed-lot industry takes off fattening animals with second quality grains. A nice complementation”, underlined Abella who based on data from the meat congress in Buenos Aires said that “looking ahead beef has a bull market because the number of world consumers of top quality cuts will keep increasing”.
 

Categories: Economy, Uruguay.
Tags: beef, Uruguay.

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