U.S. inspectors will be in the country for 10 days.
A commission of inspectors is in the country to evaluate the laboratories and three Dominican industrial slaughterhouses to obtain the go-ahead to export beef to the United States.
This commission is from the Department of Agriculture and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States (APHIS). Throughout the week, they will be supervising the laboratories of the General Directorate of Medicines, Food and Sanitary Products (Digemaps), explained Enrique de Castro, president of the Dominican Association of Meat Cattle Producers (Asocarne). He said that since 1996 the country has not exported meat to the United States and is now able to export between three and five thousand tons a year.
He said that the slaughterhouses in conditions to export are Agrocarne, Mercarne, and Meat Supplier A & B, who comply with the regulations and biosecurity standards in the slaughter and processing of meat required by the authorities of the United States.
De Castro said that meat from three industrialists would be exported. This would make it possible to boost the slaughter of animals, promote meat production nationwide and improve local prices of all types of cuts.
He stressed that exporting meat would not increase national prices or deplete the local market since industrial meat is for sausages.