OF PORK STEAKS NOT FOR OUR PLATE: Livestock needs to be revived so that we can talk about exports at all

SERBIA should start the procedure of approving the export of chicken meat to the EU, and in the spring of next year, pork should follow the same path.

And while the “trade routes” are slowly opening up and widening, livestock in Serbia is at its lowest ebb. We no longer produce enough pork for the needs of the citizens of Serbia, so import is inevitable. Therefore, experts believe that these exports could be a good signal for producers, that production is not so expensive.

– The situation in animal husbandry is very difficult and it has been so in the last few years – points out Nenad Budimović, secretary of the Association for Animal Husbandry of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

– This was mostly influenced by the pandemic, reduced consumption through catering, higher prices of basic components of animal feed and African swine fever. I don’t know how cattle breeding will get over these things. State incentives are good, but the effects are weak. It is all thin and insufficient for these strong parameters. But it also serves to encourage production, not to finance it. It would only be good if the subsidies were regular and paid on time.

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As Budimović explains, Indonesia is interested in importing certain quantities of pork from Serbia. However, the most important thing for us now is to stop the decline in animal husbandry, and the state will do what is up to it – trade agreements and harmonization of certificates.

– All of us who deal with this must participate in a certain way, in order to see what pays off for our farmers – Budimović thinks.

– The question is who is brave enough to enter the business and know that he will operate at a loss. Serbia has potential, we produce animal feed and it is a pity that we do not use it. Our country now needs to establish trade relations, because we lost customers while we were not exporting. It’s the same with beef. We no longer have customers in Greece and Italy. It will not be easy to appear in a strong agricultural and economic market such as the EU.

We need to find someone to sell it to. Therefore, new markets should be sought.

Budimović agrees that it is always better to report the finished product than the raw material. The more final the product, the better and more cost-effective.

– Tea sausage, prosciutto and kulen are valuable products that can be transported to longer destinations – says Budimović.

– One should think about the tastes of those countries. We have quality, good technologists and companies that work with only 40 to 50 percent of the capacity.

LARGE MEAT IMPORTS

In the first nine months of this year, Serbia imported pork worth 36.7, and exported 1.8 million euros. While we imported pork products for 58, and exported for 45.4 million euros. Our country does not import a lot of chicken, so we bought poultry meat worth 13.4 million euros for this period. According to Budimović, we mostly import from the EU, from Spain, Germany, Denmark, Hungary and the Netherlands, while the finished products mostly come from Croatia.