US Beef Gains Expanded Access to Thailand

THAILAND - Bone-in and boneless beef from cattle of any age are now eligible for Thailand, as long as the slaughter date is on or after 1 April 2017.
calendar icon 11 April 2017
clock icon 1 minute read

For product derived from cattle slaughtered on or after this date, all USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Export Verification (EV) Programme requirements have been removed.

“Thailand enforced its boneless conditions with exceptional rigor,” explained Joel Haggard, USMEF senior vice president for the Asia Pacific.

“We can remember entire shipments of premium items being rejected based on the finding of a single millimeter-long chip.

"That’s hopefully behind us now, with the new rules allowing boneless and bone-in cuts.

"Although it is likely to remain a relatively small market for US beef, more exporters will now be interested in serving Thailand, where there are a number of foodservice and retail operations that want to feature American beef.”

Exporters should note that beef offal and offal products remain ineligible for Thailand, and USMEF is seeking clarification on which items (for example, skirts and diaphragms) will be classified as offal by Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development. 

For cattle slaughtered before 1 April, the boneless-only requirement is still in effect, as are all other EV Programme requirements.

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