Beef Impasse with Saudi Arabia Moving Closer to Resolution

It has been more than three years since U.S. beef was eligible for Saudi Arabia. The United States lost access to this promising market in May 2012 following the BSE case in California, and it remains closed today. U.S. Meat Export Federation Senior Vice President for Trade Access Thad Lively shares
Lively: “There has been a fairly high level of frustration with the fact that three years has gone by and this market is still close. So we clearly thought it made sense to meet with the Saudi Food and Drug Administration and try to come away with our own ideas of what if anything we could do as an industry to try and move that process along. So we have had, in my view, very good meetings with the Saudi FDA and as well as the folks in the embassy. We did met with the ambassador while there. The U.S. ambassador has raised it in high level in the Suadi government. So it was encouraging to know that the issue was getting that political level attention. Obviously there are always details, always complications that have to be worked out. But we came away with the impression that there is a deal there that can be done and we want to support USDA and USTR in getting that wrapped up.”
While exports to Saudi Arabia made up only a small percentage of the worldwide U.S. total beef exports, the 2012 suspension took a significant toll on some U.S. companies that had established a solid customer base in Saudi Arabia.