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The most popular stories of 2012

The global meat industry has experienced a turbulent year in 2012, from feed shortages to import and export bans. We round up the top 10 most-read stories on GlobalMeatNews.com in 2012.

EU-Singapore trade agreement finalised

The European Union (EU) has finalised a free trade agreement with Singapore, which should ease market access for EU meat exporters. It will also extend EU geographical indication intellectual property protection for traditional meat products to products sold in this wealthy south-east Asian city state.

News in brief

Burger link in Canadian E.Coli outbreak

Canda’s food safety bosses have confirmed a link between an E.coli outbreak and burgers from an Ontario meat processor.

Putin calls for meat self-suffiency

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has called for the country to become fully self-sufficient in meat production and one of the world’s leading meat exporters by 2020.

Meat sector urges Obama to prevent strike at US ports

The US meat industry has called on President Obama to step in and prevent strikes threatened at container ports across the country’s East Coast.

Rising prices to hit foodservice

A UK procurement and supply chain company has warned that the catering and hospitality sectors are facing steep rises in food inflation in 2013.

Vion deal is ‘fresh opportunity’ for NI farmers

An Northern Irish farmers’ union has welcomed the management buyout of Vion’s UK pork division as good news for its members.

News in brief

Indonesia sets beef import quota

Indonesia has set a beef import quota of 80,000 tonnes (t) for 2013. The quota will be divided into 267,000 head of feeder cattle imports, equivalent to 48,000t of beef, and frozen imports of 32,000t.

Australian farming group calls for interest rate relief

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) in Australia has urged more banks in the country to pass on interest rate relief to agricultural customers.

CCA joins sustainable beef round table

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) has joined the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

News in brief

English meat body strengthens export team

Two appointments to a UK levy body are aimed at increasing export opportunities for English processors.

Russian firm plans doubling of marbled beef production

Russia’s largest meat producer, Miratog, is planning to double its production of high-quality marbled beef by investing an additional RUB23bn (US$770m) in its beef supply chain.

Counterfeit meat seized in international raid

Counterfeit, mislabelled and sub-standard meat products have been seized in an international police operation spanning 29 countries, coordinated by Interpol and European police agency Europol.

News in brief

Brazil sees pork exports rise

Brazil exported 540,000 tonnes of pork in the first 11 months of 2012, generating revenues of $1.4 billion, according to data from the Brazilian Association of Producers and Exporters of Pork (ABIPECS).

Cargill invests $20m in South African business

US meat processor Cargill has announced plans to invest $20 million into its animal nutrition facilities in South Africa.

OIE issues biosecurity warning

Inconsistent global biosecurity standards are posing a threat to the world’s health and food security, the director general of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has warned.

Australia reports beef and veal export boost

Australia has reported a jump in beef and veal exports, with poor performance in Japan offset by increasing demand in other markets.

News in brief

McDonald’s reports fresh upturn in sales

McDonald’s has reported a recovery in sales for November, with strong performance in the US and Europe.

EU opens doors to Russian poultry imports

The European Union has opened its market to poultry imports from Russia, just weeks after a similar agreement was signed with the Ukraine.

Meat industry calls for rapid TPP agreement

New Zealand’s red meat sector has called for a speedy resolution to Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, pointing out that a deal would generate jobs and create new opportunities for exporters.

Beef prices forecast to set new records in 2013

Global beef prices are expected to break records again next year, as demand for cow meat outweighs supply, a Rabobank report has claimed.

News in brief

US brings in ‘hold and test’ rule for meat

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is introducing a new “hold and test” rule on processed meat products in a bid to improve food safety.

Russia refutes link between ractopamine and US human rights bill

Russia has hit back against media reports that its decision to tighten controls on ractopamine in meat products was a reaction to the Magnitsky human rights bill, passed recently by US Congress.

Vion agrees management buyout for UK business

Dutch-based meat processing company Vion NV has agreed a management buyout of its UK pork business nearly one month after it was announced operations in the country would be sold.   

News in brief

Canada battles another E.coli outbreak

Food safety officials in Canada are battling yet another outbreak of E.coli from contaminated beef.

Ukraine given go-ahead for poultry exports to EU

Ukraine has finally been given permission to export poultry products to the European Union (EU), but it is only likely to send around 2% of its production to the Continent, experts say.

US pork exports break records

US pork exports are soaring, according to the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture, breaking the US$600m mark.

Brazil moves to reassure over BSE

Brazilian agriculture officials have offered reassurances over the safety of Brazilian beef, following confirmation of the country’s first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

News in brief

Newcastle disease strikes Nicaraguan chicken flock

An outbreak of Newcastle disease virus has been reported in a flock of chickens in Nicaragua.

US meat worker sues UK celebrity chef

UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is facing a legal challenge from a US meat worker, who blames the campaigning cook for the loss of his job.

US welfare group points to horse consumption danger

Horse meat from animals exported from North America could potentially pose a risk to human health, according to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

Argentine government under fire from beef producers

Argentina’s beef producers have claimed their government’s new trade complaint against the US over allegedly illegal American beef import controls is a spurious political smokescreen.

News in brief

Australia extends COOL to unpackaged meat

Australian officials have voted to extend the country’s mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) rules to include unpackaged meat.

Canada’s XL Foods allowed to resume exports to US

The meat processor at the centre of Canada’s E.coli crisis has been granted permission to resume exports to the US.

Abuse prompts further calls for ban on Australian live exports

Australia is facing renewed calls for a live export ban after campaigners released footage of Australian cattle and sheep suffering “shocking abuse” in an abattoir in Israel.

Russia cracks down on ractopamine

Russia has introduced tough new measures to tackle imports of meat from livestock that have been given the growth promoting drug ractopamine.

News in brief

Bird flu detected in southern Russia

Avian influenza of the dangerous H5N1 strain has been detected in a population of wild birds in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Krai region. According to preliminary data in the region, at least 4,000 wild birds have been found dead.

UK could give GM go-ahead

GM food production could be set to get the green light in the UK after political leaders gave it the thumbs-up.

EU Ministers clarify import rules for poultry from Brazil and Thailand

The European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved detailed poultry trade agreements with Thailand and Brazil, which will tighten EU import rules, calming concerns that previous agreements were too vague and were being exploited by exporters.

News in brief

New Zealand looks to improve beef carcase value

The New Zealand government has approved funding for a new project looking at increasing value from beef carcases.

JBS USA appoints lead role in Canada

JBS USA has announced that a former executive of XL Foods will head up its Canadian business operations.

Namibia adds quality meat mark

The Meat Board of Namibia has introduced a new quality mark for meat produced within the country, which will give greater assurance to consumers that locally-produced meat reaches certain hygiene and classification standards.

Budget cuts to hit Irish farmers hard

In reaction to the Budget announcement made on Wednesday, Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president John Bryan said the cuts imposed by the Minister for Agriculture would hit Irish farmers hard.

News in brief

EU allocates animal disease funds

More than €199m has been set aside by the European Union to combat animal diseases in 2013.

Australian venture to explore new animal vaccine delivery

An agreement has been made between the University of Melbourne and a vaccine company to develop a new animal vaccine delivery system.

EU decision on lactic acid use welcomed

Representatives of the European meat industry have welcomed the European Parliament’s decision to authorise the use of lactic acid on beef carcases, saying it would provide “complementary tools” to improve the safety of beef production in the EU.

Australia takes action on dumping

Australian farmers have welcomed the tough new anti-dumping measures introduced by the Gillard government earlier this week.

WTO gives US 10 months to comply with COOL

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the US has until 23 May 2012 to ensure its laws on country-of-origin labelling (COOL) for meat products conform with its international trade obligations.

News in brief

US meat export body reports Korean media success

A media tour aimed at rebuilding South Korean consumer confidence in American beef has been a success, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

USDA leads Russia trade mission

US meat and livestock companies have joined other food businesses and officials on a trade mission in Russia this week (3-7 December).

News in brief

Australia faces sheepmeat blocks

Australia is facing barriers to the trade of sheepmeat in key markets, including China, India and the EU, according to a research fellow from Murdoch University.

UK bodies claim bird flu vaccine breakthrough

UK-based researchers have claimed a serious breakthrough in the bid to tackle the problems associated with avian influenza.

Man jailed in Australia for illegal meat imports

A man has been jailed for seriously breaching Australian biosecurity laws by importing illegal meat products from South Korea.

Canada to be grilled over subsidies

Pig producers in Australia, New Zealand and the US have warned that Canada will be challenged over its pork subsidisation programme in the next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

News in brief

Canada extends livestock tax break

The Canadian government has introduced more tax breaks for livestock producers hit by high feed costs as a result of the North American drought.

Indonesia seizes illegal poultry

Indonesian officials have seized a horde of poultry products illegally imported from Malaysia.

EU meat industry welcomes EU-Japan free trade talks

The European Union’s (EU) meat industry federation believes a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan, whose talks were authorised last week (Thursday), could safeguard and could even increase Europe’s share of the Japanese pork market.

Mozambique abattoir planned

Pan-African agricultural company Agriterra has opened a new commercial abattoir in Mozambique as part of a drive to increase the domestic supply of beef.

Russia to launch meat commodity exchange

Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture has unveiled plans to create commodity exchanges for trading the country’s primary agricultural products - meat, milk and sugar.

News in brief

Ramsgate animal export ban scrapped

A temporary ban on the exports of live animals from the British port of Ramsgate was lifted last week.

Farm group calls for EU beef action

European farming group Copa-Cogeca has warned that the EU beef industry is facing a “serious situation” and called on policy makers to address the problems affecting the sector. 

Exclusive interview

DawnRun: challenges for China's beef giant

The chief of one of China’s most ambitious beef processing companies has spoken of how his plans are being frustrated by a shortage of cattle, even as demand for beef surges in the country’s urban centres.