European Union Keen To Resume Zimbabwean Beef Imports
The European Union (EU) has been supporting Zimbabwe to enable the country to upgrade its sanitary and laboratory standards for the resumption of beef exports to the Western bloc.
Zimbabwe’s beef exports to the EU were suspended in August 2001 after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease.
The development negatively impacted the Cold Storage Commission (now Cold Storage Company)’s operations.
Before the ban, CSC had an annual quota to the EU of 9 100 tonnes of beef and had a $15 million revolving payment facility A with the EU under which it was paid in advance.
Speaking during the International Business Conference (IBC) panel discussion in Bulawayo last week, EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen, said:
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There are issues outside of the trade rules that are creating technical barriers to trade that we have encountered and are restricting Zimbabwe’s exports to the European Union.
Beef is a topic that I have been presented with often because Zimbabwe used to benefit from guaranteed prices and quotas for beef exports into the European single market.
This is no longer World Health Organisation compatible. There are problems with health standards that we experienced about 20 years ago that are still hampering export opportunities.
So sanitary and laboratory standards or certifications are still an issue in Zimbabwe and the country has to depend on regional laboratories.
But the EU has been collaborating and rendering support to Zimbabwe. We are very much interested to continue our support to boost Zimbabwe’s export to the EU.
The CSC factory in Bulawayo has been undergoing rehabilitation for some time but missed the April 2022 deadline to resume operations after years of closure.
