Mexican authorities urged pig farmers to increase exports to Japan

The ministries of agriculture, rural development and economics called on the heads of state governments' economic development departments to step up promotion among ranchers and MEAT processors of pork exports to Japan.

Mexico produces more than 1.6 million tons of pork every year, of which over 100,000 tons are exported to the Japanese market, which is the gateway to Asia-Pacific countries such as Australia, Brunei, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

During the virtual workshop, representatives from both agencies spoke with the state secretaries of Mexico City, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Yucatán, Puebla, Sinaloa, Sonora and Veracruz, as well as representatives of the pig industry, about the benefits for producers who choose to supply pork to the Japanese market, which is considered gateway to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

Jose Alberto Cuellar, spokesman for the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, noted that pork exports to the Asian country represent the greatest success story of Mexican pig producers, as more than one hundred thousand tons of meat are shipped annually in this direction.

He clarified that in 2020, exports amounted to 104,000 tons, and according to preliminary estimates, last year it reached just over 112,000 tons, worth about $516 million. He also pointed out that Mexico maintains a growing presence in this market, thanks to the trust in the Mexican animal HEALTH system, as well as the quality and safety of the meat produced in the country.

The chief DIRECTOR of the National Service for the Health, Safety and Quality of Agri-Food Commodities (Senasica), Francisco Javier Trujillo Arriaga, indicated that Mexico is free from major diseases important to the pork trade, such as foot-and-mouth disease, ASF and classical swine fever.

Therefore, since 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF) has recognized the entire national territory of Mexico as eligible for inclusion in the protocol for the EXPORT of meat, offal, processed meat products, cartilage and their derivatives, blood products and pancreas, enzymes.