06/06/12
Before an audience of 1,500 people at the World Meat Congress in France, the President of INAC stated that for Uruguay the production of meat is a cultural fact that goes beyond borders, boosting the satisfaction of consumers’ demands and at the same time preserving the internal social scheme that supports meat production.
Fratti stressed that Uruguay achieved 100% electronic traceability of beef production from farm to table and that it is the only country in the world that has developed a system of this kind, with global suppliers and solutions developed in the country.
Among the main functionalities of this system, the President of INAC emphasized transparency between farmers and meat processors.
In this sense, he said that transparency and objectivity between farmers and meat processors contribute to focus efforts on production, solving old issues typical of commercial relationships.
“A 100% traceable, inviolable system, managed at the industry by a third party –INAC-, guarantees impartiality of data capture and unbiased information”, Dr. Fratti said.
Uruguayan farmers have objective information of their animals available 24 hours after sending them to a slaughter plant; at any place, at any time. This information contains the prices and yields of their animals, as well as references to the average of animals in the same period, the President of the National Meat Institute stated.
Fratti also said that a 100 % traceable system offers unique possibilities to the technological development of production, which make the whole country become a laboratory with controlled processes and measurable results.
A 100 % traceable system makes it possible to go back from table to farm; identify industrial plants, production lots, geographical areas, farms, farmers and animals in real time. We build confidence considering the needs of final consumers but knowing that sanitary authorities have a predominant role, Fratti said.
We like to say that “we put a face to farmers” and that we can tell the stories behind each beef cut, the stories of families and rural workers, of the community and industry workers, he added.
The face of a farmer associated to a steak represents a reliable image, stronger than a thousand words; it is something we have had in our subconscious since we became a civilization, Fratti said.
The presentation of INAC also made reference to the main historical events that took Uruguay to become one of the leading meat exporters in the world.
