World meat industry news

The Five Nations Beef Alliance has been renamed the International Beef Alliance after the addition of new representatives from Brazil and Paraguay.

The alliance helps to promote world trade in beef, and will be advocating more trade liberalisation following the conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations last month.

The addition of representatives from cattle associations in Brazil and Paraguay means the alliance grows to represent 46 per cent of global beef cattle production and 63 per cent of global beef exports.

The new representatives joined at the annual conference, where the alliance decided on priorities for the next year.

“The strong commitment by the representatives from Brazil and Paraguay to the Alliance’s core principles and the willingness to jointly pursue common issues, makes these organisations an ideal fit with the existing membership,“ said the chair of this year’s conference, Mr Oswaldo Chazaro Montalvo, President of Confederacion Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas (Mexico).

“Having Paraguay and Mato Grosso, the largest beef producing state in Brazil, joining the group can only add to our strength as a beef producers' representative group," said Beef + Lamb New Zealand Director George Tatham.

“It has been very stimulating to have the opportunity to discuss with representatives from Paraguay and Brazil the opportunities and issues for the beef industry that are similar across all our regions.”

Mr Tatham said the new members are committed to the same principles as the five founding nations, including the importance of removing all barriers to trade, particularly non tariff barriers, producing beef sustainably and providing consumers with an excellent beef eating experience.

The global market for beef is continuing to increase, now over $59 billion and growing, adding $17 billion in the last four years, he said.

The original nations of the alliance are Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and the US.