Paraguay to accept U.S. beef

The U.S. Meat Export Federation reports that, following several months of discussions between USDA officials and their Paraguayan counterparts, Paraguay recently agreed to accept imports of U.S. pork, beef and natural casings, along with poultry, eggs, live animals and genetics. After reaching agreement on the terms for all export certificates, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Export Library was updated to include a new entry for Paraguay, outlining export requirements and documentation requirements for U.S. pork, beef, poultry and natural casings. In 2017, Paraguay reported beef imports of 2,511 metric tons (mt) valued at $6.5 million—mainly from Brazil, but some product was also imported from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Pork imports totaled 1,287 mt valued at $3.7 million. Most pork imports were also from Brazil, but small volumes were imported from other suppliers, including Argentina and Spain. — WLJ