Meat producers convene to discuss obstacles in their sector
The Office of the President organized a conference for meat, meat products, egg, pork, and poultry producers to discuss ways to overcome obstacles in the way of development in their sector.
Several keynote speakers gave presentations on the current policy of the government regarding meat production and the current situation of the sector. The conference also included a dialogue session that gave different stakeholders in the sector a chance to exchange information and share insight on issues.
Participants agreed on the importance of meat products in the Mongolian diet, the producers all highlighted the need to supply safe and healthy meat products as their priority. However, another priority many producers have put forth is the need to expand the market of the Mongolian meat industry outside of the country.
Even though Mongolia has around 70 million livestock, the participants underlined that it has not been able to become a major economic sector despite its potential. Many of the speakers at the conference noted that if Mongolia was able to export meat and not live animals, the animal husbandry sector could bring more economic benefits than mining.
The whole of the animal husbandry sector has set its eyes on making use of as much livestock as possible by processing meat in factories and exporting the meat with added cost to international markets. However, many obstacles stand in the way of that, sector experts noted.
Currently, Mongolia exports relatively small amounts of meat products to Russia, China, Vietnam, and Iran. Meat producers spoke of high customs tariffs that serve as a deterrent for export. For instance, the tariff for meat exports to Russia is 32 percent. Many stakeholders in the industry seem hopeful that President Kh.Battulga will discuss this issue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum to be held in Vladivostok on September 6 and 7.
In the case of exporting meat to China, producers say that the Chinese side has very strict standards. When exporting meat to Vietnam, exporters must give a three-month advance notice to Chinese officials in order to transport the meat through China. In terms of exporting to other countries such as Iran, experts coming to inspect the meat reportedly experience issues with visas.
The reason the majority of exports is horse meat is due to the fact that horse meat is less susceptible to diseases, according to participants.
Outside of horse meat, other livestock are susceptible to foot and mouth disease, cow-pox, and smallpox. Due to this, only a select number of countries import Mongolian meat from healthy quarantined zones. The reason for the mass outbreaks is due to not registering the movement of animals, say experts. For instance, it is a common sight for a herder to take his livestock from Bulgan Province to Khentii Province without restriction. The participants are pushing for a stricter handle on the movement of livestock.
Some participants even criticized the accumulation of meat in reserves due to fluctuating prices. The producers believe that storing meat for long periods causes the quality to worsen, leading to food safety problems.
Many producers have cited that high interest commercial loans are not enough to build factories up to international standards. Most of the participants of the conference agreed that the government showing support to the industry by providing long-term low interest loans would be beneficial for not only the sector but the Mongolian people as well.