Singapore Delegation Will Be in Colombia Seeking to Authorize Pork Exports

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism announced that between May 30 and June 8, a delegation from the Singapore Food Agency will be in Colombia to evaluate hog production sites and plants for the benefit of porcine species in the country.

“This is an advance in Colombia's health diplomacy strategy led by ICA and Invima, with the support of the Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs, as well as ProColombia, and the work carried out with the Singapore authorities,” he explained the portfolio and assured that the meeting was held in prior to the entry into force of the Trade Agreement signed in January by the Asian country and the members of the Pacific Alliance, including Colombia.

Likewise, Mincit assured that pork is one of the products with the most opportunities in the Colombian market and that the management to market it with Singapore was a joint effort between the portfolios of both nations.

“Within the framework of the signing of that Agreement, which we will bring to the Congress of the Republic in the next few days, we are moving ahead and moving forward in the process of admissibility of pork to that destination, a product with which we have enormous opportunities. As a result of the efforts made within the Government and the meeting that I held weeks ago with my counterpart from Singapore, Gan Kim Yong, we were able to have the confirmation of the visit to Colombia of that country's health authority to evaluate production processes,” said the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism. Maria Ximena Lombana Villalba.

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According to data from the country's trade portfolio, Singapore is a market that imports about $320 million of pork meat from the world every year. Colombia, for its part, exported about US$74,500 in 2020, mainly to Côte d'Ivoire.

Similarly, the ministry indicated that in 2021 Colombia exported to Singapore a total of US$111.7 million, of which US$5.6 million was non-mining energy goods. Coffee, sweet biscuits, tobacco, medicines, flowers, pitahaya, grenadilla, bananas and gooseberries were some of the main products exported to that destination.

Since 2021, the health authorities of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China have authorized the export of Colombian pork and beef to its territory.

The surveillance and control entity noted that, this achievement was made possible through the work coordinated with the Macao Department of Food Service, which has been advanced since August of the previous year, which allowed health certification that guarantees the export of domestic meat to this region on the Asian continent.

“We are very pleased with the confirmation, by the health entities, of the authorization to export Colombian pork to the Macao Special Administrative Region, which becomes the first Asian state to officially open our products,” said the executive president of the pig farming union, Jeffrey Fajardo.

Invima stressed that this guarantee was made possible through the control, inspection and surveillance actions carried out by the entity, which allowed to ensure optimal sanitary conditions for exported meat products.

Similarly, national companies and traders interested in the export of pork and beef to this Administrative Region on the Asian continent will have to contact the Invima Food and Beverage Directorate.

Thus, they must process health certificates, using for this diligence the models established between the national and Macao authorities, as well as coordinate the IVC processes.

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