International Beef Alliance Statement

International Beef Alliance Statement

26 OCTOBER 2017

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) welcomes the International Beef Alliance’s (IBA) commitment to trade reform and liberalisation, sustainable beef production and ensuring confidence amongst global beef consumers following another successful conference. The statement can be found here.

The IBA annual conference was held in Paraguay this year from 15 – 20 October with B+LNZ CEO Sam McIvor, Director George Tatham, and Young Leaders Mark Murphy and Dani Darke attending the event.

Sam McIvor, Chief Executive of B+LNZ says the IBA’s primary focus was discussing trade liberalisation.

“This year discussion focused on encouraging progress on eliminating trade distorting agricultural subsidies at the upcoming WTO Ministerial in Argentina; concerns about the various implications of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union; and sharing information about each country’s various FTA negotiations, including TPP11.

“There was also strong interest within the group to increase collaboration on the tackling of Non-Tariff Barriers.“

The organisations also shared information about steps they were taking to improve the sustainability of beef production; and discussed consumer trends such as alternative proteins and how to position beef as a premium protein, he says.

The International Beef Alliance represents the beef producing organisations of seven of the largest beef producers and exporters in the world including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay and New Zealand. Overall the members represent around 6 3 percent of global trade in beef.

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