MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina unable to fulfill export quota of prime beef to EU

Argentina is unlikely to fulfill its contract to supply the European Union with 28,000 tonnes of boneless top prime cuts of beef, also known as Hilton cuts, according to government and meat industry sources.

The current contract is up at month's end, and Argentine meatpackers still fall short of 3.500 tonnes of the Hilton quota, said a government official source. Exports were expected to reach about 25,500 tonnes by June 30, 2,500 tons short of the agreed amount. "All of us hope the quota is met because it would truly be a major loss for Argentina. It would be the first time we've fallen short" said on Friday Javier Martinez del Valle, president of the Argentine Association of Exporting Producers (APEA). If Argentina which is the world's fourth beef exporter fails to comply with the contract could be exposed to EU sanctions. However they are not expected since angry importers, distributors, supermarkets and restaurants in Europe could seek alternative suppliers such as Uruguay and Brazil The Argentine government agency that monitors agricultural trade, ONCCA, recognized the delays in beef shipments and blamed meatpackers for not seeking approval of the pending sales. "With great surprise, we must warn that part of the private sector that benefited from the Hilton quota did not act responsibly to fulfill their commitments," the head of ONCCA, Ricardo Echegaray, said last week in a statement. An industry source shifted the blame to the government, however, saying officials temporarily halted exports and then changed the rules for obtaining permits. This happened amid a standoff between the government and the farm sector, which sparked several farm strikes in three months, and which remains unsolved. "The government stopped approving beef exports in late March and approved nothing at all in April. In May they set up a whole new system for getting exports approved, which the sector had to adjust to" the industry source said. Hilton cuts which are served in Europe's dearest restaurants can reach over 10.000 US dollars a ton.