Barriers to Entry for Uruguayan Meat

The Agriculture Ministry of Costa Rica announced it will impede the entrance of meat from Uruguay, arguing sanitary risks.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

However, in contradictory statements, Gerardo Vicente, director of the Costa Rican Animal Health Service (Service), expressed that studies analyzing Uruguayan meat exports have not discovered any problems with the product, and they could not foresee the need for a future health barrier.

The announcement by the Ministry seems to be in response to pressure by the National Livestock Breeding Corporation (Corfoga), who "is trying to protect its members from meat imports from Uruguay, which can be up to 50% cheaper than national meat". In addition to the price difference, Uruguayan meats have the advantage of world renowned quality.

Back in August, Costa Rican breeders had requested to increase the tariff paid by Uruguayan meats from 15% to 45%, but "a technical study determined that the tariff barrier cannot be justified, as imports only represent 5% of the national production".

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Costa Rica: Livestock Breeders Request Tariff Protection

August 2009

Fearing massive meat imports from South America, they are requesting to increase tariffs from 15 to 45%.

Meat price in the Southern Cone of America is normally half the price of meat in Costa Rica or U.S., but imports from these markets where not possible due to sanitary restrictions.

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