The general manager of Delmor S.A., Zacarias Mondragon confirmed that his company stopped exporting to the Honduran market because of the imposition of phytosanitary restrictions a year and a half ago by the authorities of that country.

The executive said that up to 2010 Delmor exported about 20,000 pounds per month, equivalent to half a million dollars, to Honduras, a good consumer market for sausages. This non-tariff barrier, said Mondragon, has forced them to seek other foreign markets such as Panama and El Salvador, in order to compensate for the losses.

Last week, leaders of Nicaraguan slaughterhouses complained that Guatemala had prevented the entry of some 40,000 pounds of beef, claiming phytosanitary problems. Costa Rica and Panama have implemented similar measures. Exporters argue that these barriers are designed to protect local interests and reject the reasons given, seeing as Nicaraguan beef is also exported to the USA, Taiwan and Japan.

Authorities from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have not responded to these complaints.

Source: elnuevodiario.com.ni

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