Pork producers address new challenges and advances of the sector at the National Meeting

Carlos Furche, the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, announced the creation of a work group which will gather Asprocer, ODEPA, and SAG to promote competitiveness in the sector and make sure that the imports that come into Chile respond to the same demands as those placed on local producers, for example, the use of forbidden substances such as Ractopamina.

Source: Asprocer

This productive sector commemorated 30 years of its trade association, ASPROCER, with a National Meeting of Pork Producers, and outlined its work for the next four years, following the path to continue being a “sustainable, profitable, socially responsible, and globally competitive pork industry”.

This industry has had an annual growth of 7% during the last three decades, a figure reached thanks to the efforts made to deliver high quality products, incentivizing national consumption, and developing its exportation capacity.

There are important achievements, among them the positioning of Chile as the sixth top pork exporter in the world, valued amongst the most demanding markets. The exporting strategy of the pork industry, together with the public-private work, has resulted in pork becoming the main meat exported from the country, representing 61% of total meat exports.

In order to analyze the current scenario precisely, the new challenges and the 2017-2021 Strategic Plan for the Pork Sector was carried out at this National Meeting, which included producers that make up ASPROCER. Carlos Furche, Chilean Minister of Agriculture, was also at the event, as well as Angel Sartori, Director of the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG), Claudia Carbonell, Director of the Research and Agriculture Policies Office (ODEPA), Regional SAG Directors, as well as the highest executives from ASPROCER and other people associated to the sector.

During the opening, Juan Miguel Ovalle, President of ASPROCER, highlighted that “today, 50% of pork exports go into the most relevant markets like South Korea, China, EU, and USA with 0% tax. This advances allow us to be competitive at a global level and maintain 6th place for over 8 years as pork exporters in the world ranking”.

Furthermore, he addressed the challenges the industry must face to increase its productive and exporting capacity, he also highlighted that although the sector promotes free commerce, today, the demands that the products that come into the country, “shall do it under the same terms and demands as the international market places on us”.

“For example”, he said, “we are interested in seeing these demands in the use of forbidden substances such as Ractopamina; or regarding food safety programs and other requirements, the same as those being placed on Chilean pork production, until they have the equivalent of the demands being placed on their imports”.

Regarding this last topic, Minister Carlos Furche immediately announced the constitution of a work team between ASPROCER, SAG, and ODEPA “to precisely identify in which aspects the sector considers itself to be at a disadvantage from a normative and regulatory stand point, and at the same time, identify which mechanisms are necessary in our regulatory system to adapt to these international conditions”.

“I believe that reciprocity is fair and a basic fact in such a way that the imports that arrive to Chile must be subject to the same obligations as those placed on our producers and products when they are shipped abroad. This is also a topic we can start working on immediately”, he stated.

The Minister also referred to the public-private work being developed to strengthen the industry and turn it into one of the most thriving sectors in livestock. Continuing on this subject, the authority stated that they will continue working as they have during this time, as open as possible with the greatest expression of trust both in work and will. “I believe that in the end, this is the only way to build a better country”, he stated. Furthermore, he highlighted the capacity of being able to generate a long-term strategy that has been implemented by Asprocer during the past 30 years.

At the same time, Angel Sartori mentioned the challenges for the industry and SAG to maintain and improve the pork veterinary health status of the country, as well as solidify and promote the relationships with other markets, broadening the coverage of the electronic certification to different countries and safeguard the openness and improvement of conditions for Chilean products.

Strategic Plan

When presenting the 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, the General Manager of ASPROCER, Rodrigo Castañón, pointed out that the work would be oriented towards maintaining and promoting the development of “a sustainable, profitable, socially responsible, and internationally competitive pork industry”.

He mentioned, among the short and medium-term goals, the public-private Program of the Technological, Energy and Environmental Transformation for Pork SMEs, which marks a milestone for the sector, making its sustainability and growth options viable when incorporating advanced treatment technologies.

Acknowledgements were given to a group of founding partners (Angel Soler, Ramon Achurra, Alejandro Fortin Medina, and Vicente Correa), also to those who stood out for their innovative spirit (Cristian Kuhlenthal from Maxagro, and Alejandro Gebauer from Empresas AASA), and the effort and support towards the industry that the small and medium producers have granted, represented by Daniel Adi from Carnes DAG.

The photo album of the meeting is available on ASPROCER´s Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/asprocer/albums/72157676957528496