MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay closer to selling beef again to the US

Bertoni insisted on the importance of opening up the US market to Paraguayan beef

Paraguay's Agriculture and Livestock Minister Santiago Bertoni Monday held a bilateral meeting with US authorities Monday to discuss the agricultural agenda between the two countries, especially Paraguayan beef imports, it was reported.

Bertoni reviewed with the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Daniel Whitley various agricultural issues, particularly the re-authorization process for the import of Paraguayan meat into the United States.

Bertoni insisted on the importance of opening up the US market to Paraguayan beef and underlined that his country has complied with all the technical requirements.

Whitley pointed out that Paraguay is on the right track considering that the USDA agencies (FSIS and APHIS) have already determined that importing meat from Paraguay is safe and that the procedures applied by the country are equivalent to those of the United States.

The US official also said that there are only a few weeks left before the completion of the public consultation and that, so far, there are no issues that could delay, so it is expected that after the consultation period, APHIS will analyze the comments made to conclude the process.

In this regard, Bertoni showed his Ministry's interest in receiving cooperation from the USDA to strengthen the national agricultural statistical system and Biotechnology so that Paraguay could be included in the satellite monitoring and drought warning system of the US.

This bilateral meeting between representatives of Paraguay and the United States took place in the framework of the Ministerial Summit of the “Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate - AiM for C” Initiative, which is being held in Washington DC from May 8 to 10, 2023. Both authorities agree on working together to defend the common interest in agricultural matters, especially the strengthening of the open, transparent, and science-based international agricultural trade system.

(Source: ABC Color)