Nicaragua’s meat industry among safest worldwide

March 5, 2012 - PRLog -- The Agribusiness and Forestry Ministry of Nicaragua recently stated that the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE, for its acronym in French) will submit Nicaragua for approval to obtain the status of “country with controlled risk” from the bovine spongiform encephalopathy disease, also known as mad cow disease. With this certification, Nicaragua would become one of the 35 OEI countries with this status, which represent less than 20 percent of all member countries.

In this context, Onel Perez, President of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Beef Exporting Plants, mentioned that this recognition demonstrates that the country is capable of preventing this disease by implementing the necessary measures for its control.

“We’ve never had a case in Nicaragua, however this certificate would be granting us a sanitary certificate that will allow us to export to markets such as Mexico”, expressed Perez.

He also indicated that in order to achieve this recognition, the country had to present numerous studies on the disease prevention conditions and an epidemiological field surveillance plan used to document any cases of this disease.

SuKarne, one of the most important agribusiness companies in Mexico, established its US$100 million large-scale cattle intensive project in Nicaragua in 2011. The project includes a slaughterhouse and boning plant that works under strict quality standards, including those necessary to export to Japan, Russia and the U.S.

The Nicaraguan meat industry has demonstrated positive tendencies during the past years, which will only continue increasing once the OIE status is approved. Meat exports reached US$431 million in 2011, a 39.2 percent increase in comparison to the US$310 million reached in 2010.

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PRONicaragua is the Nicaraguan Investment Promotion Agency, established in 2002. It is a non-profit, public-private institution whose mission is to generate economic growth and job creation in Nicaragua by attracting high-quality foreign direct investment. The agency provides complimentary support services to qualified investors seeking investment opportunities in our country.