Caribbean Technical Team Visits United States To See Meat Industry

More than 20 meat industry technical representatives from the Caribbean visited the United States this week on a trip coordinated by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) and the Nebraska Corn Board to gain increased knowledge of the U.S. meat industry.

The team discussed safety, animal identification and meat inspection with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They also visited a meat processing facility, feedlot and feedyard in Nebraska to see U.S. safety protocols and technology in practice.

These visits help key stakeholders in emerging markets like the Caribbean see firsthand how U.S. meat safety systems work to produce some of the world’s highest quality meat products. The team members have influence in their countries to encourage importers and others to purchase U.S. meat.

Led by USMEF Caribbean consultant Liz Wunderlich and Nebraska Corn Board Ag Promotion Coordinator Kelly Brunkhorst, the team members started their visit in Washington, D.C., at the USDA Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service to learn about animal surveillance, testing and traceability procedures.

A discussion on how USDA ensures U.S. meat supply is safe, wholesome and correctly labeled, as well as regulations and procedures on meat inspection and Export Verification programs, followed.

“It was encouraging to see food safety is an ongoing concern in the United States and there is a continuous drive to address problems and to improve,” said Dr. Theo Wools, director of veterinary service in Aruba.

The team saw safety procedures in practice during a visit to a U.S. meat processing facility in Nebraska.

“Transparency to quality and safety of the beef business was impressive as was the state-of-art fabrication at the meat processing facility,” said Dr. Arnold J.S. Dwarkasing, a veterinary officer from the Netherlands Antilles.

The team then visited a feedlot to gain a better understanding of animal identification and the cattle feed ban along with a feed mill to tour and discuss banned products, segregation and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

“The production systems in Nebraska were impressive and visiting them reassured me of the quality and safety of U.S. meat,” said Dr. Joseph Ryan, Trinidad & Tobago chief veterinary officer.

The team had a chance to visit with representatives of Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Beef Council and Nebraska Farm Bureau during a chuckwagon dinner at Circle Five Feedyard hosted by owner Alan Janzen.

Visits to the University of Nebraska and the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center were planned to discuss animal science, technology and research. Touring the largest consolidation, distribution and export centers for the Caribbean rounded out the trip in Miami on Friday.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –