Honduras exports beef to United States

Honduras is poised to become a beef exporter to the United States, with the authorization last month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Agroindustrias del Corral.

Honduras expects as many as six more producers to be USDA certified, as a result of a joint program of Texas Tech University and the Honduran government.

Agroindustrias del Corral, which has a daily production capacity of 250 animals, three years ago starting exporting to foreign markets, including Guatemala, El Salvador, and Hong Kong.

Much of Honduras’ cattle industry faces problems ranging from health management and standardization of quality, to financial resources and the ability to deal with buyers in foreign markets.

At the same time, Honduras has low labor costs and extensive tracts of potential grazing land.

As of 2020, beef from Honduras – as well the other member countries of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free trade Agreement - will have unlimited duty and tariff-free access to the United States market.

Honduras’ current annual tariff-free quota for beef exports is 775 tonnes.