To save money on transportation, India has pushed Indonesia to let imports of buffalo meat go through the port of Medan on its northern coast rather than Jakarta.
According to officials, the shipment would significantly increase if bovine meat exports were permitted through Medane port, which is in the north of Indonesia, rather than Jakarta, which is in the south. There are over 1,500 miles between Medan and Jakarta ports.
According to officials, India has also requested that Indonesia significantly boost the annual import quota for beef, which is now set at about 0.1 million metric tons (MT).
India, the second-largest meat exporter in the world after Brazil, ships buffalo meat to Indonesia in fourth place. India exported $ 2.1 billion worth of buffalo meat from April to November of this fiscal year, 4% less than it exported during the same period in 2021–2022.
According to M. Angamuthu, chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), “We have requested Indonesia open Medan port to import bovine meat to make it more inexpensive, which will enhance exports tremendously.”
In addition to raising the quantity of buffalo meat imports from India, he said that Indonesia had been requested to release the export quota on time.
Twenty-nine meat processing facilities in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab, Bihar, and Kerala have received approval from Indonesia to export buffalo meat.
A delegation from APEDA recently travelled to Indonesia to discuss ways to expand beef exports from India.
The main export markets for buffalo meat from India include Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Vietnam (9%), Malaysia (8.7%), Egypt (8.1%), Indonesia (6.6%), and Iraq (3.9%) are the top five exporters of beef, accounting for $3.3 billion in 2021–2022.
During the previous fiscal year, 1.1 MT of buffalo meat was exported. India sends buffalo meat to almost 70 different nations.
The nation has 89 buffalo meat processing facilities, including six slaughterhouses authorized to export buffalo meat.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) requirements are followed while processing and exporting buffalo meat, which has increased demand for Indian cattle over the past ten years due to its quality, nutritional content, and risk-free status.
Only boneless buffalo meat is now permitted for export from India. One of the top exporters of buffalo meat worldwide is India. The nation’s infrastructure for processing meat is of the highest calibre and has been certified for quality management, food safety management, and environmental management systems.