Meat exporters seek more market access

Meat exporters seek more market access    U.S. meat producers are “leaving about $100 million per month on the table of trade” because of difficulty in accessing foreign markets, estimated Philip Seng, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
   In a press conference in Washington, Seng pointed to difficulties in Europe, North Asia and Mexico all making exports difficult for U.S. beef producers.
   Seng said an agreement signed last week between the United States and the European Commission that will allow U.S. beef additional access, at zero duty, to the European Union market for high-quality beef produced from cattle that have not been treated with growth-promoting hormones “is an important milestone for the industry.
   “In 1989 the beef market in Europe was basically closed to U.S. beef and we have had 20 years of retaliation in place, but that has not had any benefit that has accrued to this industry,” he said.
   The new EU import quota would be set at 20,000 tons in each of the first three years, and increase to 45,000 tons in the fourth year, about doubling U.S. possible exports, Seng said, adding his group would work diligently to fill the quota.
   Though the company has been working to rebuild access to foreign market for U.S. beef for six years since concerns over bovine spongiform encephalopathy caused U.S. beef exports to crash.
   “We still have some very important North Asia markets we need to enter in a meaningful way,” he said.
   More recently, Seng said the industry has been hurt by the outbreak of H1N1 “swine flu,” though he said his group is looking forward to normalcy returning to the market as understanding of the flu is not transmitted through pork.
   “It’s important to eschew protectionism, he said, calling for passage of free trade agreements with countries such as Colombia, Panama and Korea. “Ultimately these agreements lower border protection and are an inducement for added trade and this is a plus for industries that are very depressed because of the financial crisis.”
   In the first three months of 2009, beef exports, including variety meats, totaled 203,475 metric tons, up 3 percent from the same period in 2008, and pork exports, including variety meats, were up 8 percent to 489,348 metric tons. That’s on top of 28 percent gains in beef exports and 57 percent gains in pork exports in all of 2008.