MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine exports prime cuts of beef to Japan

Agriculture Ministry Luis Etchevehere celebrated that “in May we had promised that this month we would send Argentine meat to Japan and we kept our word”

Argentina has shipped its first ever beef exports to Japan. Exporter Fridevi (Frigorífico de Viedma) shipped two hundred kilos of beef prime cuts on Monday, with another 10 tons scheduled for export in the coming days.

 Patagonian lamb has also been cleared for export to Japan, the Argentina Agriculture Ministry reported.

The shipment comes after successful negotiations between Tokyo and Buenos Aires, which included the intervention of the Foreign Ministry, Argentina’s sanitary body Senasa and the embassies.

“We are very happy to make this first step toward strengthening the relationship between our two countries”, President Mauricio Macri said.

For his part, Agriculture Ministry Luis Etchevehere celebrated that “in May we had promised that this month we would send Argentine meat to Japan and we kept our word”.

“This sets a before and after in the trade relationship between both nations”, he added. “We know that we can deepen and diversify our relationship and we hope to continue working toward the growth of our trade ties”.

The Japanese importer Marubeni will host a special event in Tokyo on August 1 to celebrate the arrival of the beef shipment.

Japan is one of the world’s biggest importers of food, with its agricultural purchases totaling US$80 billion in 2017. The country purchased boneless beef imports to the tune of US$3.1 billion in 2017 alone. United States, Australia and New Zealand are the main suppliers.