Argentina Announces Agreement with Japan to Open up Beef Exports
The deal could expand access to a market that imports more than $3 billion in beef a year, Minister Luis Caputo said.
- On Wednesday, Argentina announced it cleared sanitary hurdles to begin exporting beef from its main cattle-producing regions to Japan, concluding a nearly two-decade effort to access the lucrative market.
- Negotiations accelerated in 2024 as the government prioritized Japanese market access, building on a 2006 request and a complex 12-stage sanitary review process involving multiple government ministries.
- Japan imports more than US$3 billion of beef annually, though the country's 38.5 percent tariff on imports tempers the potential impact for Argentine producers seeking to expand exports.
- Economy Minister Luis Caputo called the deal a 'historic agreement,' while Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno noted it effectively opens Japan to beef from across Argentina; exports await a planned audit by Japanese authorities.
- While China remains Argentina's primary beef market, the industry faces shifting conditions as record 2025 exports of US$3.7 billion clash with declining domestic consumption, down 9.5 percent year-on-year.
32 Articles
32 Articles
The agreement had begun to be negotiated two years ago to enable the export of beef from the areas with the highest production in the center and north of the country, considered free of foot-and-mouth disease - viral disease of cattle- and subject to vaccination. Since 2018, Japan has already allowed the entry of beef and meat products from the Argentine south, recognized as a zone free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, although com…
The country will regain access to a market that imports USD 3 billion per year. The agreement provides for the sale of cuts produced in the foot-and-mouth disease free zone with vaccination
Image of bovine meat taken in La Reja, Argentina. José Ignacio Pompé/Unplash Japan opened its market for Argentina's beef after 20 years, said Argentine Minister of Economics Luis Caputo, on Wednesday (30). In a publication on X, Caputo said that the two countries reached an agreement after defining the sanitary requirements for imports. The authorization goes for meat produced in regions of Argentina free of foot-and-mouth disease with vaccinat…
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