The diffusion of campaigns that promote the consumption of chicken meat and its low price are factors that have influenced the growth in per capita consumption of the product in the Guatemalan market by 60% between 2018 and 2019.
Data from the National Association of Poultry Farmers (Anavi) indicates that between 2018 and 2019, the average annual consumption of chicken meat for each Guatemalan increased by 25 pounds, from 41.45 pounds to 66.5 pounds.
The union of poultry farmers of Honduras has denounced the fact that between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds of chicken are no longer entering the neighboring country due to obstacles "of a commercial nature".
According to the president of the Federation of Aviculturists of Honduras (Fedavih), Juan José Cruz, the situation is not occuring due to lack of sanitary permits, but rather to problems of a purely commercial nature.
From August 21st to 23rd,2018, poultry sector entrepreneurs from the region and the Dominican Republic will be meeting in San Pedro Sula to take part in business meetings and discuss relevant issues for the sector.
The event is being organized by the National Association of Aviculturists of Honduras (ANAVIH), and will be held at the Copantl Convention Center, starting at 8 am on Tuesday, August 21.
From August 8 to 10, 2018, the Central American Poultry Congress will be held in San Pedro Sula, with the expected participation of around 2,500 producers from the region.
The event will be held at Expo Centro San Pedro Sula and is being organized by the National Association of Aviculturists of Honduras, as a member of the Federation of Aviculturists of Central America and the Caribbean (Fedavicac).
Annual per capita consumption of chicken meat in Central American countries increased from 19.8 kilos in 2008 to 25.9 kilos in 2016, and growth was driven mainly by Panama.
The upward trend in regional chicken meat consumption has been steady in recent years, growing from 814,000 tons in 2008 to 1.2 million tons in 2016.
In 2016 countries in the region exported 41,208 tons of beef to the US, 7% more than in 2015.
Figures from the information system on the Fresh, Refrigerated and Frozen Beef Market in Central America, complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graph"]
The USA has agreed to reduce to 0% the tariff on chicken leg quarters imported from the US market for the Central American countries under DR-CAFTA.
The request to remove the tariff was made by Guatemala weeks ago. Chicken legs, both frozen and refrigerated, will enter the Central American market with 0% tariff when all the signatory countries of CAFTA-DR have completed the application process with the Department of Commerce.
From January 2016 import tariffs will start to be phased out on chicken, rice and milk from the USA, reaching 0% in 2022 and 2025, under the DR-CAFTA agreement.
In Costa Rica local producers say they have been preparing for this for several years, but the country's loss of competitiveness due to high production costs and lack of action by the government to improve on this might prevent them from competing on equal terms.
Starting July 17th the categorization of products according to their health risk will be applied and a 15 day shipping notice will be required to import those labelled as "high risk."
A new "Directive on sanitation and phytosanitation for the facilitation of trade in goods and shipments in Central America", adopted by the Council of Ministers for Economic Integration (Comieco), approved in January and which will come into effect from Thursday, July 17, could detract agility from intraregional trade, warns the Exporters Corporation of El Salvador (Coexport).
Chicken meat imports in Costa Rica had a growth of 57% in 2012 over the previous year, while beef only grew 46%.
From the report:
In 2012 the country imported $48.3 million worth, an increase of 28% compared to the previous year.
Imports of frozen bovine meat recorded the highest increase in monetary terms, with imports in 2012 having increased by more than $4.4 million compared with the previous year, going from $9.6 million in 2011 to approximately $14 million in 2012.
President of Cargill Meats Central America speaks of the opportunities and challenges for the sector five years on from CAFTA's implementation.
The region's poultry sector has yet to meet the sanitary requirements imposed by the US and other modifications to farms and poultry processing plants, according to Bruce Burdett, president of Cargill Meats Central America in an interview with Eduardo López García for El Financiero.
Starting January 2012 nutrition labeling of single-ingredient foods such as ground meat and poultry will be required.
On December 29, 2010, the Food, Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has changed regulations on meat and poultry products. The changes will come into effect on the 1st of January 2012.
The measure involves the manufacturing of food produced in the U.S. as well as imported goods.