The President of the Nation, Mauricio Macri, announced this Monday (29.4.2019) the opening of the Asian giant's market for Argentine pork, during a visit to the La Pompeya meat factory, accompanied by the Secretary of Government for Agroindustry Luis Miguel Etchevehere; and the representatives of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA), Daniel Pelegrina; of Argentine Rural Confederations (CRA), Dardo Chiesa; of the Argentine Agrarian Federation (FAA), Carlos Achetoni; and of CONINAGRO, Daniel Kindebaluc.
The opening took place within the framework of the official mission carried out in China by the head of the national agro-industrial portfolio, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, who signed the document with the Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs of that country, LI Guo.
The signing of the protocol is the culmination of a long process of negotiations carried out by officials from Agroindustria, Senasa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and represents a unique opportunity for local pork producers., who see China as a window of growth since the country is one of the main consumers and importers in the world. According to USDA data, pork production in China in 2018 reached 54 million tons; while domestic consumption exceeded 55 million tons and per capita consumption reached almost 40 kilos per year.
3 refrigerators + 22 establishments
The first three pork exporting meat processing plants were opened: La Pompeya, Campo Austral and Paladini.
«Argentina continues its process of intelligent integration into the world. We highlight the excellent cooperative relationship we have with the Chinese authorities, which generates greater confidence, a better business climate and, therefore, allows us to obtain concrete results to continue strengthening our agro-industrial exports."Etchevehere said upon returning from his tour.
"CChina is now opening its market to imports of quality food, so there is a unique opportunity to continue increasing our pork exports to the largest consumer in the world," said the Secretary of Agroindustry. He added: "The transformation of soybeans and corn into animal protein creates new jobs for a chain made up of producers, meatpackers, transporters, veterinarians, food engineers, trade, and that boosts a sector that had been recovering«.
Chinese Customs approved the authorization of 22 establishments exporting beef and poultry, This will significantly contribute to increasing exports of meat products. In just a few years, frozen beef has become the second most exported agro-industrial product to China, worth 832 million dollars last year.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed that will streamline and provide predictability to future authorizations of establishments interested in exporting, which covers beef, poultry, sheep and, from now on, pork. With the signing of this Memorandum, China has for the first time signed an agreement of this nature with a foreign country, which highlights the relationship of mutual trust by authorizing Senasa to be the entity that directly approves and licenses export plants.
In addition, a seminar entitled “Dialogue Session of the Soybean Meal Industry of Argentina and China” was organized together with the Argentine Embassy in Beijing, the Food and Strategic Reserve Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China. The seminar was attended by 40 representatives from 18 companies and chambers of commerce related to the demand for soybean meal in China.
During the seminar, the secretary highlighted "We currently export to more than 50 countries that recognize us for our quality and safety. Argentine soy flour is a product rich in protein and has a high level of solubility, making it easy to digest for different livestock.«.
SENASA + ICAMA
Etchevehere visited his counterpart in Agriculture, Minister HAN Changfu, with whom he signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation on Pesticides between the two countries, which aims to provide a legal framework to improve the exchange of information between SENASA and ICAMA (Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals) for the control and registration of the marketing of these products. They also discussed issues of mutual interest such as biotechnology, seed production and anti-foot and mouth disease vaccines.
On the pig market in Argentina
Pig slaughter in Argentina reached 560.639 heads in March of this year. If we consider the January-March quarter and compare it with the same period of the previous year, the variation has been 3% higher. In the first three months of the year, 1.640.399 heads were slaughtered.
Production in March of this year was 50.110 tons. The year-on-year variation for the first quarter showed a positive result of 5% compared to the same period in 2018, reaching 148.390 tons.
Per capita consumption increased by 3,8%, compared to the first two months of 2018, reaching 14,07 kg/inhab/year.
In the first two months of this year, exports from the pork export complex increased by 41% compared to the same period in 2018. Finally, between 2015 and 2018, pork exports in Argentina grew by 555%.
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