NPPC Wants Access to Argentina

September 11, 2000

National Pork Producers Council President (NPPC) Craig Jarolimek has urged Argentine trade officials to open their country to U.S. pork exports. In a meeting held at the Embassy of Argentina, Jarolimek, a pork producer from Forest River, ND, pointed out that U.S. pork producers have been unwavering supporters of allowing sound science to determine whether a foreign product was safe for importation and expected Argentina to do the same.

"While we can readily understand the need to take all precautions against the possible spread of disease, science supports a prompt decision to allow U.S. pork to be imported to Argentina," Jarolimek said. Jarolimek used the ongoing fight over Argentine citrus exports to illustrate NPPC’s commitment to consistently applied sanitary standards.

NPPC was quick to condemn an amendment added to the agriculture appropriations bill that will prevent the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) from implementing regulations on the importation of Argentine citrus that have already been issued. NPPC is leading a coalition of 27 agricultural organizations in an attempt to have the amendment stripped from the bill, Jarolimek said.

For years, Argentina has banned U.S. pork imports, citing the threat posed to domestic herds by several common porcine diseases, specifically porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, transmissible gastroenteritis and pseudorabies. While the diseases cited by Argentina do exist in the U.S., Jarolimek pointed out that there has never been a case of transmission from imported meat to live hogs.

"U.S. pork producers have been patient, but we also want to be treated fairly," Jarolimek said. "While these diseases are found in the U.S., they also are found in virtually every other pork producing country in the world, including Brazil and Canada, which are allowed to export to Argentina."

The Argentine market for imported pork is estimated at 30,000 metric tons a year.