Mexico has the productive potential to expand the supply of meat to Japan
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, representatives of the national meat industry, the Japan Foreign Trade Agency (JETRO) and the Embassy of Japan in Mexico began working meetings in order to identify opportunities to expand agri-food trade between Mexico and the Asian nation.
At the first meeting, Mexico's productive and health strengths and the potential of the meat industry were presented.
The national livestock sector has a reputation based on certification, quality, technical development, and phytosanitary and zoosanitary campaigns and practices, which make Mexico a world leader in meat and in the agricultural, aquaculture and fishing subsectors, the Ministry of Agriculture highlighted.
The meeting highlighted that Japan is Mexico's second largest trading partner in agricultural and fishery products, and last year, Mexico exported pork, avocado, beef, banana, orange juice, asparagus, tuna, kabocha squash, processed citrus fruits, mango, blueberry, Persian lemon and table grapes, among others.
Representing the Secretariat, the Director of Economic Studies of the Agri-Food Sector of the General Coordination of International Affairs, Juan Bernardo Orozco Sánchez, said that Mexico has been of interest to Japan as a reliable supplier of meat products and other foods to its market and, within that framework, they have worked together to promote cooperation and trade between the two nations.
At the meeting held at the headquarters of Agriculture in Mexico City, he indicated that what was achieved is due to the joint work and active participation of the meat industry, through Mexican Beef, Mexican Pork, the National Poultry Union and the National Association of Federal Inspection Type Establishments (Anetif), and represents the opportunity to better understand the country's quality products.
The Minister Counselor of the Embassy of Japan in Mexico, Tsukasa Hirota, stated that the relationship between both nations has successfully strengthened cooperation and links between companies in the agri-food and export industries, since the signing of the Strategic Agreement for Economic Complementation between both countries.
The director also called for maintaining this synergy, in order to achieve more goals together with the government and industry.
He stressed the need to invest in more infrastructure to address the negative effects of climate change on the agri-food sector and to work towards environmental protection, sustainability, human rights and animal welfare, issues of interest to Japanese importers and consumers.
The Legal Commissioner for Foreign Trade of the National Agricultural Council (CNA), Salvador Behar Lavalle, highlighted the work that both countries have carried out for more than 20 years to maintain an open, attractive and successful agri-food market.
He reiterated the need for governments and industries to comply and generate public policies to maintain the excellent standards of quality and sustainability of meat, agricultural and agro-industrial products that characterize Mexico and Japan.
He indicated that in recent years agri-food exports have grown by 12.4 percent, that the country is the twelfth largest food producer in the world, the seventh largest exporter, and is among the top five nations with a reliable health status in livestock production.
The director of Anetif, Sara Oropeza, explained that it represents 133 Federal Inspection Type (TIF) establishments, out of the 438 active in the country, with internationally approved health and safety certificates, and in 2023, 154,554 tons of products were exported to Japan, with a commercial value of more than 692 million dollars.
Mexican Beef representative Rogelio Pérez Sánchez acknowledged the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture to establish the meeting, which had the objective of strengthening the ties of brotherhood and trade between Mexico and Japan, and of involving the meat sector to expand the trade of top quality products.
Mexican Pork executive Alejandra Aceves Barrera reported that they have 11 pork processing plants, mainly located in Jalisco, Sonora, Sinaloa, Guanajuato, Puebla, Querétaro and Yucatán, and the quality of their products allows exports to Japan, Korea, the United States, Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Angola and the Ivory Coast, among others.
The director of Economic Studies of the National Union of Poultry Farmers, Elisa Félix Berrueto, stressed the importance of Mexico in the production of poultry meat and eggs, of which last year it exported 7,584 tons of meat and poultry products.
At the end of the meeting, they agreed to carry out new promotional activities to expand trade opportunities between importers and exporters from both countries, including participation in the 50th edition of the Foodex Agri-Food Fair in Tokyo, to be held in 2025.
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