Argentina sets out stall on world beef stage
Speaking to the World Meat Congress in Beijing, Javier Rodriguez, vice-minister with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina, said the past couple of years had seen declines in beef production due to drought and other issues.
However, he told delegates, the Argentine government now had a strategy in place to the year 2020 and was looking forward to increasing production.
"We hope production will outpace total domestic consumption, so we will be more competitive in exporting to the international market.
"We have sound quality systems, we have no avian influenza, no swine fever and no mad cow disease and we have excellent traceability, while our government puts great deal of attention on our food safety."
He said Argentina was the third-largest supplier of poultry meat to China and the biggest supplier of beef. "China is now our fourth-biggest export market for beef in the world; we hope we can build on that."
