Costa Rican Pork
Producers Fear
Competition if TLC is
Approved
Costa Rican pork
producers fear that the
approval of the free
trade agreement with the
United States known as
the Central American
Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA),
might lead to fierce
competition by US pork
producers.
The trade deal is known
locally as the Tratado
de Libre Comercio (TLC).
The fear is that giving
duty-free access to
large US companies would
put Costa Rican pork
producers out of
business.
The implementation of
the TLC will increase
access and lower tariffs
on many products from
the US, according to the
US Meat Export
Federation (USMEF).
The trade agreement is
expected to give US pork
duty-free access to
about 1.100 metric tons
annually.
The United States is the
world’s largest pork
exporter. and is
expected to dominate the
global pork market over
the next 10 years.
“Pork is the most widely
consumed protein in the
world, and U.S. pork has
quality advantages that
set it apart from the
competition,” USMEF
President and CEO Phil
Seng said. “We
communicate the U.S.
pork story every day to
importers, meat buyers
and consumers,
increasing awareness of
U.S. pork’s safety,
superior quality and
nutritional value.”
According to Seng,
U.S. pork trade with
Canada has increased
under the North American
Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and Canada
currently is US's third
largest market for pork
exports.
Costa Ricans will be
voting on the TLC by way
of referendum on October
7. The other Central
American countries have
already ratified and
implemented their
respective agreements.
Costa Rica has until
March 1, 2008 to do the
same.
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