Uruguay moves forward with free trade agreement for meat exports to the U.S.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The United States Meat Importers Council (MICA) announced that members of its organization agree that a free trade agreement should be concluded between the United States and Uruguay to improve access of Uruguayan meat to their country, according to the South American country’s National Meat Institute.

A November 5 letter to Uruguayan Ambassador to Washington Andrés Durán Hareau said MICA “strongly supports a possible future free trade agreement between the U.S. and Uruguay” because “it is becoming increasingly clear that the needs of the U.S. market are not being met due to the restrictions imposed by the outdated beef quotas.”

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Citing the close and historic relationship between the two countries, MICA states that “Uruguay is one of the major suppliers of lean beef products to the U.S., but trade has been unnecessarily restricted by the 20,000-ton quota established as a result of agreements reached under the World Trade Organization Uruguay Round in 1994.”

It also notes that the quota was developed based on the trade flows of the 1970s and 1980s and no longer meets the needs of the U.S. market. Much has changed since the quota was developed.

The position taken by MICA and expressed in this letter “shows that U.S. meat importers understood the message that Uruguay delivered at its annual meeting in Chicago three weeks ago,” Ferber said.

Subsequently, the Institute’s delegation, which attended the summit along with Ambassador Durán, met privately with MICA authorities and its legal advisors to raise the issue that the conclusion of trade agreements often requires more active participation by the private sector, in addition to the usual official negotiations.

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