Meat + Poultry - March 2006 - 16

International News & Trends
Mystery shoppers assess meat departments in Mexico
Thanks to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, customers at several of Mexico's
prominent supermarket chains have
gotten mysterious. The U.S.M.E.F.'s
Mystery Shopper 2006 Program began this past February and will evaluate 75 retail stores from three chains:
Comercial Mexicana, Gigante and
Chedraui in 12 cities throughout central Mexico and Tijuana. The program
will run until Sept. 30.
Between February and September,
unidentified mystery shoppers will secretly rate the stores on a number of at-

tributes, including sanitation, display,
customer service and promotion of
U.S. meat. After each mystery shopper
visit, meat department managers are
notified of their scores and given suggestions on how to improve before the
next mystery shopper visits.
During the five years the program
has been used, officials say stores report improved service and cleanliness
standards and increases in U.S. meat
sales. Participating stores typically report U.S. beef and pork sales increasing up to 25 percent.

B.S.E. threatens Sweden's beef
industry, low-risk status
The same day Sweden's agricultural officials had
the unfortunate task of announcing the discovery of avian influenza within its borders, animal
health officials also reported a preliminarily positive case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Confirmatory results from the
E.U. reference laboratory in England were expected by mid-March.
The 12-year-old suspected cow was traced to a farm in Vasteras, about 60 miles
northwest of Stockholm, where the movement, sale or slaughter of any ruminant is now restricted, pending the results of further testing. The cow reportedly
showed signs of milk fever and, in accordance with the E.U.'s requirements, was
slaughtered and tested.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture was, at press time, investigating the suspected farm to determine if any risk factors were present that could have triggered a
B.S.E. outbreak. Sweden imposed a ban on the utilization of meat and bone meal
in animal feed in 1991, several years prior to the birth of the animal of interest and
well before the 1994 E.U.-mandated feed ban.
Prior to the discovery, Sweden was the only European country classified as lowrisk for B.S.E. Should the tests be confirmed in Sweden, the country's status will
likely be downgraded.
The country has utilized an effective control program since 2001. To date, over
170,000 animals have been tested for B.S.E., including numerous false alarms.

Bird flu virus sweeps
across E.U.
Sweden and Poland have become
the ninth and 10th European Union
countries to discover the highly
pathogenic avian influenza virus
within their borders. Prior to these
discoveries, the H5N1 strain of the
virus had reached Greece, Italy,
Austria, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia, France and Slovakia.
Earlier this month, officials in Poland found the virus in a dead swan
in Torun, a city northwest of Warsaw. Samples are being analyzed at
the E.U.'s Reference Laboratory for
avian influenza in Weybridge, U.K.,
to determine if this is the H5N1 virus. Precautionary measures were
applied immediately by Polish authorities, including identification of
high-risk and protection zones and
restrictions on poultry flocks.
Just days before Poland's announcement, Swedish authorities
informed the European Commission of two confirmed cases of the
highly pathogenic avian influenza
virus H5 in dead wild ducks tested
near Oskarshamn, 150 miles south
of Stockholm. Similar to the other
E.U. countries where the virus had
been discovered, poultry in Sweden must be kept indoors, movement of poultry is banned except
directly to the slaughterhouse and
the dispatch of meat outside the
high-risk zone is forbidden except
where products have undergone the
controls provided for in E.U. food
controls legislation.

U.S., Colombia establish free trade agreement
Colombia joined Peru as the second
Andean country to eliminate tariffs
and trade barriers with the United
States, reaching a free trade agreement this past month. The latest accord follows a deal made this past December with Peru. Meanwhile, similar
negotiations are under way with trade
officials in Ecuador.
U.S. trade representative Rob Port16

MEAT&POULTRY

March 2006

man and Jorge Humberto Botero,
Colombia's minister for trade, industry
and tourism, announced the successful
conclusion of the negotiations.
Portman said the new deal would
generate export opportunities for
American farmers, manufacturers
and service industries, helping to
create job opportunities in the United
States. Portman said the deal would

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also be good for Colombia because it
would "foster economic development
in Colombia and contribute to efforts
to counter narco-terrorism, which
threatens democracy and regional
stability." As part of the agreement,
Colombia approved immediate dutyfree market access for fresh, chilled
or frozen bone-in or boneless, highquality beef.

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Meat + Poultry - March 2006

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