IARN — The US Meat Export Federation is offering educational webinars for red meat exporters.
Travis Arp, USMEF senior director of export services, explains that these monthly, web-based educational seminars for staff of member companies provide instructions for properly documenting and executing shipments of US pork, beef, and lamb to international destinations.
“Our department works a lot with packers, traders, and cold storages – specifically at the sales level – but we saw this as an opportunity to work with folks who might be involved in export documentation, logistics, and those aspects of the export business,” Arp said. “We provide additional training for those employees on export regulations, customs clearance requirements, and all of the information that’s necessary to successfully prepare an export shipment to anywhere around the world.”
The series began with an “Export 101” session, explaining the basics of preparing export shipments and highlighting common errors that can cause products to be delayed or rejected. This was followed by a session focusing specifically on China, which included a review of China’s import requirements and the market access changes achieved through the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement.
Cheyenne McEndaffer, USMEF director of export services, led the most recent webinar, which focused on exporting to Mexico.
“Anyone that exports to Mexico knows they are notoriously tough on even minor errors on labeling and documentation,” McEndaffer said. “We really wanted to highlight common errors that we see, but also do a quick review of the information that’s in the FSIS export library. They have different labeling requirements that are bilingual for different products, whether they are processed or fresh. We had good attendance, about 70 attendees. We received good feedback, so we are looking forward to doing the same on South America in one month.”
For more information on the educational webinars, visit usmef.org.
