Uruguay has successfully retained its eligibility to export beef to the EU, following an audit by European Commission officials.

The planned audit, which took place from May 4-15 this year, found that authorities in Uruguay have a "suitable structure" to deliver controls and support certification for beef exports to the EU.

Staff were found to have "adequate enforcement powers" when needed, while there is a system in place to train and support officers in carrying out official controls.

However, the EU Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), which carried out the audit, identified weaknesses in the documentation supporting the traceability of EU-eligible meat.

Uruguay

As part of the audit, EU officials visited various sites such as slaughterhouses, a cold store and a cattle holding facility in the South American country.

During the visit to a stand-alone cold store, the audit team found that the traceability of some batches of EU-eligible beef was unsatisfactory.

In some cases, there was a mismatch between the batches of incoming meat and those outgoing certified by the IVO [official veterinary inspection team] of the cold store.

The report noted that authorities in Uruguay carried out "an indepth verification", and some days later they reported that more deficiencies had been identified.

"This led to the drafting and immediate implementation (in all four independent cold stores listed for export to the EU) of a new procedure for traceability, which was satisfactorily demonstrated to the audit team," DG SANTE said.

Beef

The report also noted that the traceability system applied by food business operators in cutting plants attached to slaughterhouses, where official veterinarians are permanently present, was "found to have weaknesses".

In particular, auditors noted that the segregation of non-EU and EU-eligible bovine quarters entering the process could not be fully demonstrated.

Following the audit, the EU Commission recommended that authorities in Uruguay "ensure effective segregation of EU and non-EU eligible carcases/quarters in cutting plants".

In response, Uruguay rolled out a new "traceability verification procedure" for facilities authorised to export to the EU from the start of July.

This updated the country's annual traceability verifications and includes specific checks of the entry of beef into the deboning room.

"Its implementation reinforces the official control system and provides additional guarantees regarding the effective segregation of EU- and non-EU-eligible carcases/quarters in cutting plants," Uruguay said.

Audit

Overall, the audit found that the control system in place in Uruguay "covers verification of EU requirements and is implemented as planned".

"It includes enforcement measures aimed at ensuring that, when noncompliances are detected, corrective measures are taken.

"However, identified noncompliances related to traceability, in particular the documentation on the separation of EU- and non EU-eligible products, might undermine the guarantees supporting this statement in the health export certificate," it said.

The report concluded that controls over animal identification and movement, inspections and animal welfare are, overall, properly implemented, "providing assurance that animals entering the EU production chain are EU eligible".

The European Union is the third most important beef export market for Uruguay, after China and the US.

In 2024, Uruguay exported 36,845 tonnes of chilled and frozen beef to the EU. This figure increased by almost 50% to 54,579 tonnes last year.