Mexican Pork Producers Gain Access to Chinese Market

By CnAgri Print

Mexican pork producers have received new market access to China and are looking for expanded market access elsewhere in Asia. Disease-free recognition remains one of the key barriers for the industry but as science-based discussions continue, the door for Mexican origin pork and pork offal exports will widen. The country is expected to remain a net pork importer with the United States being the primary foreign supplier.

The central and state governments of Mexico, besides livestock producer organizations, have been pursuing pork market access to China since 2008 after having gained access to markets in the US, Japan, and Korea. Recently, the National Service of Health, Food Safety, and Food Quality announced that the People's Republic of China Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine General Administration, approved the Zoo-sanitary Export Certificates that will enable four Mexican establishments to ship pork to China. Mexico's President Calderon and People's Republic of China Prime Minister Wen Jiabao signed the protocol under which the trade of this merchandise must comply.

The four Federal Inspection Type establishments granted access are located in the State of Sonora and will be eligible to export chilled or frozen pork cuts. Industry sources indicate that contractual requirements will likely dictate that the product be ractopamine free. Sources also suggest that the target market for the product will likely be retail and institutional that wish to purchase hams, split carcasses, or whole carcasses and then add value to the product for final consumers. Mexican industry members are now analyzing the opportunities to see whether they can produce to Chinese requirements.

Mexico's pork sector forecasts that its pork meat exports to China, in the short term, will be 10,000 metric tons and could be valued at $35 million. Industry sources are optimistic that this initial amount could be doubled soon given the strong demand for pork meat and offal that China has sourced from world markets over the past two years.