Panama: Protectionism in the Bovine Meat Market

With the approval of a decree declaring beef and all its edible offal as sensitive products, importers in the country will not be able to opt for tariff exemptions.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Cabinet Council approved Cabinet Decree No. 29 dated December 10, 2019, which declares as sensitive products for the national economy all beef, whether fresh, chilled, frozen, salted, smoked, or processed, as well as all edible bovine offal, whether fresh, chilled or frozen, reported the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA).

You may be interested in "Beef Meat: Regional Sales up to March 2019"

This decree was approved with the purpose of preventing importers from avoiding the tariff protection established for this item ranging from 25% to 30% tariff.

The MIDA statement adds that "... By qualifying beef and beef offal as a sensitive product would not be allowed to apply 3% duty exemptions to those importers, industries or processors who import these products as inputs, raw materials, or intermediate goods under the laws of industrial development."

The document specifies that "... The decree excludes raw material that is not available in the country, with the characteristics required by agro-industry such as frozen beef in irregular pieces called trimming."

¿Busca soluciones de inteligencia comercial para su empresa?

Do you need more information about your business sector?

Request more information:









this site is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google's privacy policy and terms of service.
Need assistance? Contact us
(506) 4001-6423


More on this topic

When Protectionism Fails

February 2019

The Panamanian government's decision to raise the tariff on meat imported from Nicaragua from 3% to 30% to allow local producers to compete has so far shown no clear results.

In September 2018, the Panamanian government decided to establish barriers to the entry of Nicaraguan beef by raising the import tariff from 3% to 30%. This has not had the expected effects, as the prices paid to local producers have not risen.

More Protectionism

September 2018

To correct alleged price distortions in the local market, the Panamanian government plans to regulate imports of beef from Nicaragua.

The Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA)'s plan is to establish new import rules, which will aim to correct the "distortion in the price of beef paid for the local product." 

Honduran Beef in Taiwan

February 2018

Empacadora Agroindustrias Del Corral has been authorized to export fresh, chilled or frozen beef to the Asian nation.

From a statement issued by the National Service for Agrifood Health and Safety:

February 1, 2018.

Rising Agricultural Activity in Panama

December 2011

As of July 2011, agricultural activity continues to rise, in particular animal husbandry.

A press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama reads:

Unlike the previous two years, more cattle were slaughtered (9.0%) and more chicken meat was produced (9.4%), both domestically and for export.

ok