Argentina lifts restrictions on beef exports

The National Agri-Food Health and Quality Service (SENASA) has given the green light to the export of all beef cuts, fresh, chilled or frozen, as of this week. The export differentiation of D and E cows and bulls, better known as "Chinese cows" as they were never used in the domestic market but are nevertheless part of the diet of Asian customers, has also been removed.

As part of this new structure, Senasa has updated procedures to allow the export of all types of beef cuts. Phytosanitary authorities have also begun adapting veterinary control services and computer systems to the new conditions, in particular the export certification system, which came into force on Monday.

Restricting sales abroad was usually a tool of Kirchnerism aimed at containing domestic prices and "concerning the nutrition of the Argentine people." The Fernandez administration shut down beef exports in May 2021 and then introduced a quota system and a ban on the export of certain cuts.

Before the restrictions, Argentina's beef exports totaled one million tons in 2020.