Indonesia Relaxes Beef Importing Restrictions But Still Remains Challenging Market

At one time Indonesia was a top 10 volume market for U.S. beef exports, however, access to Indonesia has been inconsistent in recent years due to government efforts to bolster its level of self-sufficiency in beef production. U.S. Meat Export Federation Senior Vice President for the Asia Pacific Joel Haggard says

Haggard: "Following publicity last year about a government-wide effort to streamline red tape and regulations. The Minister of Agriculture published these new import regulations that made more cuts eligible for importation and allowed importers to apply to import as much beef as they want. With more beef cuts eligible from the U.S, including export staples like short plate and short ribs, we are predict we will see higher U.S. volumes this year. The U.S. has the best opportunity in years to supply Indonesia because Australia's live cattle export supply will be constrained by where that country is at in terms of its cattle cycle and the consequent high beef import prices from Australia."

He cautions, however, that the market remains very challenging, as importers still must purchase a certain volume of domestic beef before being granted import permits.

Haggard: "We're also disheartened to see continue non-access for high-demand items such as beef hearts and livers. These and other restrictions are really the reason why the U.S. and joined by New Zealand to file a trade compliant to the WTO over Indonesia's beef import regime. We are very interested in the outcome of the WTO case, but in the meantime we are focused on capturing what volume and shares we can by working with importers, and the restaurants and retail customers to feature more U.S. beef."