MOLINE, Ill. — An Iowa cattleman said a recent trade mission revealed a number of barriers preventing beef exports from entering two Asian countries.
The trip, coordinated by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, took place Nov. 14-23. The group visited Hanoi, Vietnam, and Jakarta, Indonesia. However, religious rules in Indonesia could limit beef exports to the country.
“It’ll be a struggle going forward,” Scott Cherne an Iowa beef producer and one of the 12 delegates who attended the trip said. “It’s an 85% Muslim country. They’re requiring starting next October that everything be certified halal, and with that it just makes one more opportunity for us to have a non-trade tariff barrier that puts a stress on our packing industry and our producers that are selling into these markets.”…