Mexico Now Open to U.S. Bison Meat

U.S. bison meat has been added to the list of red meat products eligible for export to Mexico.

Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association, says this comes as very welcome news to the bison industry, which began working with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in 2018 to gain access to the Mexican market. He notes that consumers in Mexico tend to favor cuts that differ from those preferred by U.S. consumers, so exports to Mexico will help bison producers maximize carcass utilization.

Carter notes that the European Union is currently the largest export market for U.S. bison meat, despite the EU’s 20% import duty. The industry is hoping to gain tariff relief through future trade agreement negotiations with the EU, and through the negotiations with the United Kingdom that began May 5. Among Asian markets, bison meat can be exported to Hong Kong and Macau but does not currently have access to key markets such Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

# # #

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry. It is funded by USDA; the beef, pork, lamb, corn and soybean checkoff programs, as well as its members representing nine industry sectors: beef/veal producing & feeding, pork producing & feeding, lamb producing & feeding, packing & processing, purveying & trading, oilseeds producing, feedgrains producing, farm organizations and supply & service organizations. USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law. USMEF is an equal opportunity employer and provider.