China is now implementing stricter border restrictions to control the influx of illegal meats into the country. The crackdown on illegal meat imports has reportedly left some of the country's biggest black market importers scrambling to look for other buyers.
India is currently one of the biggest importers of buffalo meat to China. According to reports citing sources close to the matter, the importation of buffalo meat from India, which usually passes through Vietnam, has already been completely eliminated thanks to the country's stricter border controls.
China's implementation of tighter border controls has severely hurt the black market meat trade into the country, estimated to be worth more than $2 billion annually. India originally halted its legal importation of buffalo meat into China in 2001 when the country's banned the product due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
However, illegal importation of buffalo meat into China had seen a rapid increase over the past few years due to the country's massive demand for non-pork meat products. This was largely caused by the devastation of China's domestic pork production following the spread of African swine fever that has killed millions of hogs in the country over the past year.
According to the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association, the exportation of buffalo meat into China via Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand had dropped by 23 percent year-on-year from January to October. Exports to Vietnam, India's main entry point into the Chinese market, dropped by 34 percent in the first half of the year to 202,873 tons.
With China now halting importations of buffalo meat, India is now looking to Indonesia to compensate. Indian exporters are reportedly hoping that Indonesia would triple its meat imports to make up for the losses. All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association vice-president, Fauzan Alavi, stated that they are aiming to boost exports to Indonesia to at least 300,000 tons per year. At the same time, the association has submitted requests to the Chinese government asking it to lift its ban on buffalo meat imports.
To achieve its goals, the association has approached Indonesia's government to push it to increase its import quotas. The association has also urged its own government to cut export taxes for raw hides, allowing exporters to remain competitive in the global markets. India previously increased tariffs on rawhide exports from 40 percent to 60 percent in July. India currently has the highest tariffs on rawhides, where countries such as Canada, Australia, and the US have zero export duties.
