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Peru to fully open market to U.S. beef exports

The United States on Monday reached an agreement with Peru to remove outstanding barriers for U.S. beef exports entering the South American country.

   The United States on Monday reached an agreement with Peru to remove outstanding barriers for U.S. beef exports entering the South American country.
   In 2015, the United States exported $25.4 million in beef and beef products to Peru. Since the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) entered into force in 2009, these U.S. exports have increased, but were still hampered by certification requirements installed by Peru in 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
   The new agreement to remove Peru’s export verification program for U.S. beef was reached during Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s trade and investment to Peru this week.
   The United States and Peru have agreed to allow beef and beef products from all federally inspected U.S. establishments to be eligible for export to Peru, rather than only those from establishments that participated in the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Export Verification (EV) programs.
   Peru, like many countries, closed its market to U.S. beef exports in late 2003, when a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or “mad cow” disease, was discovered in a Washington state cow. The World Organization for Animal Health shortly thereafter rated the United States with a “negligible risk” classification for BSE, and overseas markets, such Peru, gradually began to reopen their markets to U.S. beef.
   “Peru has been a growing market for American beef and this agreement will only further expand opportunities for American producers and exporters,” U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement. “Not many years ago, there was little American beef going to Peru, but through the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, and agreements like this, we are seeing increased demand for high-quality American beef.”
   Bilateral trade of agricultural, fish and forestry products between the United States and Peru reached $3 billion in 2015 and has grown more than 110 percent since 2009, according to the USDA.