Date: 11/12/2015
The Secretary General of IMS International Meat Secretariat (OPIC-Oficina Permanente Internacional de la Carne, for its acronym in Spanish), Mr. Hsin Huang is currently in Uruguay.
IMS jointly with INAC are the organizers of the next World Meat Congress to be held in Uruguay in November next year. IMS gathers meat and livestock organizations throughout the world with the aim of exchanging ideas on issues that affect the sector: trade, sustainability, animal care, human nutrition and health.
Regarding the World Meat Congress to be held in November 2016 in Punta del Este, Huang said "it is important to hold it in Uruguay because of the relevance meat production has in this country and also because it is important to generate debate on the subject. Among the topics under consideration to be included in the agenda we can find: sustainability, health and nutrition, and animal care, from the perspective of the OIE and ISO standards that are being analyzed."
AUDIO. World Meat Congress 2016. Hsin Huang. MP3. 3:30
Before local journalists, the secretary general of IMS also referred to the WHO report on Cancer and Meat, published a few weeks ago. He indicated that there is no new evidence on a cause-effect relationship; that it was a misunderstanding even with the further clarification made by the organization stating that the idea was not to stop eating meat but that the main message was the classification of certain products made by the public. "This report had different opinions: out of 22 there were 7 abstentions which we do not know if they agreed or not," he explained.
"It's a good opportunity to talk about the product and remind that it has benefits, that meat is important," he added.
Referring to Uruguay and its insertion in the world from the meat point of view of, he said the country follows a very clever strategy as a successful small producer because the image is of high quality, based on trust, traceability and other aspects guaranteed by organizations such as INAC.
AUDIO. Meat consumption and international situation. mp3. 12:30. MP3
Huang Hsin brief.
Before joining IMS, Mr. Huang was responsible for climate change analysis at the Trade and Agriculture Directorate of the OECD.
This included the evaluation agriculture’s role in climate change, the challenges and opportunities that the livestock sector, food security and sustainability face and the development of a "green growth" strategy for food and agriculture.
Mr. Huang was also a researcher of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP). In 2011 he was awarded the Alan A. Powell Award for his contributions to the GTAP Advisory Board.
He has recently published several articles on climate change and agriculture, and is currently a member of the editorial board of the journal "Perspectives on Agriculture".
During his stay, Mr. Huang gave a lecture on Sustainability, Animal Care, Health and Nutrition for students of the Specialization Postgraduate degree on Meat Industry taught by UDELAR (University of the Republic of Uruguay) and INAC and was in contact with Uruguayan journalists.
He will also visit the Cultural and Industrial Heritage of Fray Bentos and Colonia de Sacramento, where the IMS Marketing Workshop will be held before the Congress.
Later, he will visit a meat packing plant and the facilities of the Conrad Hotel in Punta del Este, where the World Meat Congress will be held in November 2016.
