Paraguay market now open to US pork

Under an export certificate recently negotiated between the two countries, the United States now can ship pork to Paraguay. The National Pork Producers Council welcomed the news. 

“Paraguay won’t be a huge market for U.S. pork, but given the current trade climate, the U.S. pork industry needs all the new markets it can get,” said NPPC President Jim Heimerl, a pork producer from Johnstown, Ohio. “This is welcome news for America’s pork producers.”

While the South American country is a modest consumer of pork, there is potential for U.S. pork export growth to its nearly 6.9 million people, who have a per capita income greater than, for example, the Philippines and Vietnam, two large pork-consuming nations. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month concluded talks with its Paraguay counterparts on the export certificate, which will allow the shipment of U.S. fresh, frozen, processed and thermally processed/commercially sterile pork and pork products.

“The U.S. pork industry is very dependent on exports,” said Heimerl. “Last year, were exported nearly 27 percent of our total production, and those exports added more than $53—representing almost 36 percent of the $149 average value of a hog in 2017—to the price we received for each animal marketed.

“The United States can’t sit on its hands when it comes to trade and watch its export markets erode. Opening new markets, even small ones like Paraguay, and expanding existing markets is imperative.”

NPPC is the global voice for the U.S. pork industry, protecting the livelihoods of America’s 60,000 pork producers, who abide by ethical principles in caring for their animals, in protecting the environment and public health and in providing safe, wholesome, nutritious pork products to consumers worldwide. For more information, visit www.nppc.org.