Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 4/12/17

Bone-in and boneless beef from cattle of any age is now eligible for Thailand, as long as the slaughter date is on or after April 1, 2017, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. For product derived from cattle slaughtered on or after that date, all USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Export Verification (EV) Program 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 U.S. 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. USMEF is seeking clarification on which items (for example, skirts and diaphragms) will be classified as offal by Thailand’s Department of Livestock Development. USMEF is also seeking clarification on the eligibility of processed beef products.

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

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