Peru Agrees with USTR, USDA to Remove Barriers to Imports of US Beef

The U.S. and Peru agreed to remove trade barriers for U.S. beef exports to the country that have been in place for the last 13 years, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman announced (here). While U.S. beef and beef product exports to Peru have spiked since the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) entered into force in 2009, they have at the same time been “hampered” after Peru installed “burdensome certification requirements” in 2003, USTR said. Vilsack and his team secured the agreement, termed the “export verification program,” on his trade and investment mission to the country. Through a bilateral exchange of letters, the U.S. and Peru agreed to changes in certification statements that will allow beef and beef products from all federally inspected U.S. establishments to be eligible for export to Peru. Under the previous requirements, eligibility applied to beef and beef products only from facilities that participated in the Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Marketing Service Export Verification programs.