MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean meats to US; Mexico open to Uruguayan beef

Chilean Agriculture minister Jaime Campos received Monday the first shipment of Chilean meat (beef and pork) sent to United States in the framework of the Free Trade treaty between both countries.

The event took place at the Import House in Philadelphia with the presence of both Chilean and United States officials and representatives linked to the industry.

United States is one of the world's main importers of meat and this year is forecasted to acquire 1.7 million tons of beef and 400.000 tons of pork.

According to the bilateral treaty no tariffs are imposed on Chilean pork, however for beef there's an initial thousand tons exemption with an annual 10% increase which means that in 2006, a total of 1.210 tons of Chilean beef will access the US market with zero tariff.

In related news Mexico finally opened its market to Uruguayan beef following an agreement on technical procedure and origin certification. Resident sanitary officials will control beef shipments before they are exported to Mexico.

The Mexican market was banned to Uruguayan beef since 2001 when an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Argentina rapidly spread to other Mercosur neighboring countries including Uruguay which at the time was free of FAM without vaccination.

"I'm very pleased with the outcome of negotiations", said Mexican ambassador in Montevideo Perla Carvalho. Mexico bans beef imports from countries free of FAM with vaccination but "since we have a free trade agreement with Uruguay, we've made an exception to the rule".

Uruguay's main export item is beef with annual sales of over 800 million US dollars. NAFTA members United States and Canada are two of the leading markets for Uruguayan beef.