Nicaragua begins exporting meat to Russia

Nov. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Nicaragua recently exported its first shipment of meat to the Russian Federation with twelve containers of beef, valued at US$650 thousand. Ariel Bucardo, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, confirmed that the Russian government has approved sanitary qualifications to import Nicaraguan products such as beef, seafood, and oils; and expressed that this new commercial partner is the result of the government’s ongoing endeavor to increase the country’s international trade.

Although export quotas have not yet been defined, Bucardo confirmed that “we have been approved by the sanitation authorities of the Russian Federation and now encourage national exporters to take advantage of this new market.”

The Russian Federation constitutes a market of 180 million people readily available to consume Nicaraguan products through a quota that will be decided by the importing Russian companies and three participating Nicaraguan slaughterhouses, which also export to Venezuela and other countries. Bucardo stated that “the Russian companies have already suggested a 12,000 ton annual quota that we hope will be materialized with the slaughterhouses soon.”

Furthermore, the Minister indicated that Taiwan, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, who have constantly been expanding their commercial meat trade with Nicaragua, will also begin importing more national beef.

Between January and October of this year, Nicaragua has exported more than US$1,500 million (excluding free zone exports), surpassing the nearly US$1,400 million mark the country achieved during all of 2009.

During the first half of 2010, the sector with the greatest growth in Nicaraguan exports when compared to the same period last year was mining (93%), followed by agriculture (35%) and manufacturing (31.2 percent). In terms of products, the growth rate of the top five export products showed the following behavior: sugar (218%), cattle (61%), gold (55%), coffee (43%) and beef (25%).