U.S. meat industry ready for free trade with Colombia

U.S. meat industry ready for free trade with Colombia    American meat shippers expect to benefit from a recently concluded U.S. free trade agreement with Colombia.
   The Bush administration announced the free trade agreement Feb. 27. Once implemented, the agreement will immediately eliminate duties on many U.S. products exported to Colombia, including beef, and will phase out duties on all beef and pork imports from the United States over a 10-year period.
   Under the agreement, Colombia will also lift its ban on imports of boneless and bone-in U.S. beef in two stages over the next three months. In addition, the agreement includes a commitment by Colombia to recognize the equivalence of the U.S. meat inspection system and accept imports from all U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved plants.
   “Colombia will be a key South American market for both U.S. pork and U.S. beef,” said Ricardo Vernazza-Paganini, director of Central and South America for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, in a statement Friday.
   “Once the ban on U.S. beef is lifted, we will export an increasing number of livers, lungs and stomachs, which are much prized in Colombia,” Vernazza-Paganini said. “Our pork exports to Colombian processors will benefit greatly, and some of our cuts may be sold to retailers and the food service industry. As well as high-quality beef to restaurants of Bogota, the U.S. meat industry will find an important market for beef variety meats.”
   The current annual market for pork is about 170,000 metric tons of which imports account for 8,000 to 10,000 metric tons. Most of these imports are from the United States, Chile and Canada.
   The current annual market for beef in Colombia is about 680,000 metric tons. Colombia, like many countries, banned U.S. beef imports in late December 2003 after the USDA acknowledged a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, in a Washington state cow. Prior to December 2003, Colombian beef imports totaled an annual average of 5,080 metric tons, and the biggest market share went to the United States, Paraguay and Canada.