Speakers from USMEF and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service identified several issues that can cause shipments to be detained.

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USMEF hosts educational webinars for U.S. red meat exporters
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The U.S. Meat Export Federation is conducting monthly, web-based educational seminars for staff of its member companies, providing instructions for properly documenting and executing shipments of U.S. pork, beef and lamb to international destinations. Travis Arp, USMEF senior director of export services, says while most of USMEF's daily contact with these companies is at the sales executive level, the webinars have attracted broader attendance from members who specialize in areas such as documentation and logistics.

"Our department works a lot with packers and traders and cold storage, specifically at the sales level, but we saw this as an opportunity to work with folks who might be involved in export documentation, logistics, and those aspects of the export business, and provide additional training for those employees on export regulations, customs clearance requirements, and all of the information that's necessary to successfully prepare an export shipment to anywhere around the world," Arp says.

The series began with an "Export 101" session, explaining the basics of preparing export shipments and highlighting common errors that can cause products to be delayed or rejected. This was followed by a session focusing specifically on China, which included a review of China's import requirements and the market access changes achieved through the U.S.-China "phase one" economic and trade agreement.  

USMEF Director of Export Services Cheyenne McEndaffer led the most recent webinar, which focused on exporting to Mexico. Speakers from USMEF and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service identified several issues that can cause shipments to be detained at the border, including failure to comply with Mexico's complex labeling requirements.

"Anyone that exports to Mexico knows they are notoriously tough on even minor errors on labeling and documentation, so we really wanted to highlight common errors we see, but also do a quick review of the information that's in the FSIS export library," McEndaffer says. "They have different labeling requirements that are bilingual for different products, whether they're processed or fresh. We had good attendance about 70 attendees and have received good feedback."

The next session, which is set for late September, will focus on South America.  

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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