Mexico Now Open to Some Brazilian Pork
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As part of its ongoing effort to attract more meat suppliers to the Mexican market, the Government of Mexico is now allowing some imports of Brazilian pork.
Erin Borror, USMEF vice president of economic analysis, explains that all Brazilian product must come from the state of Santa Catarina, which is free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and does not vaccinate for FMD. Brazilian pork must also be from plants approved for export to Mexico and must go directly into further processing upon arrival.
Borror notes that most exports of U.S. pork to Mexico are chilled, rather than frozen. Through September, the U.S. shipped more than 550,000 metric tons (mt) of chilled pork cuts to Mexico, accounting for 86% market share. She does not expect entry of Brazilian pork to have a significant impact on Mexico’s chilled imports. However, the U.S. also shipped about 40,000 mt of frozen pork to Mexico. This category is more competitive, with the U.S. accounting for about 60% market share. European suppliers have made some inroads into the frozen market, especially after Mexico suspended import duties on all pork cuts in May of this year. Borror anticipates that Brazilian exporters could also capitalize to some degree on Mexican processors’ demand for frozen pork cuts, especially during this period of duty-free access.
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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry. It is funded by USDA; the beef, pork, lamb, corn and soybean checkoff programs, as well as its members representing nine industry sectors: beef/veal producing & feeding, pork producing & feeding, lamb producing & feeding, packing & processing, purveying & trading, oilseeds producing, feedgrains producing, farm organizations and supply & service organizations. USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law. USMEF is an equal opportunity employer and provider.