Members of the U.S. Meat Export Federation believe more progress is needed for U.S. beef access to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia recently lifted its 30-month cattle age restriction on U.S. beef, which opened the market for beef from cattle of all ages. However, Travis Arp ? senior director of export services with USMEF ? says other product restrictions remain in place that continue to inhibit U.S. exports to Saudi Arabia.
?Additional USDA programs have had to be put in place that overall restricts the number of cattle eligible for the Saudi market,? Arp said. ?Regaining traction into exporting beef into Saudi Arabia has been much slower over the last four years than what we could have had if the market would have reopened under the previous conditions.?
Arp admits that the lifting of the 30-month cattle age restriction is a good start.
?Having access for over 30-month cattle does open up some marginally additional access,? he said. ?There might be some packers who can find over 30-month cattle that qualify for the market, but until we see more loosening of feed restrictions, we?re probably not going to see a tremendous amount more volume going into Saudi Arabia than what we would have seen previously over the last four years.?
After a four-year closure, the Saudi market reopened in 2016 but as Arp explained, exports have been slow to rebound. Last year, exports to Saudi Arabia totaled $14.3 million. Through April of this year, exports were substantially below the 2019 pace at $3.3 million.
For more information on U.S. beef exports to Saudi Arabia, visit the U.S. Meat Export Federation website at www.usmef.org. You can also contact their Denver headquarters at 303-623-6328.
