The 21st International Meat Secretariat World Meat Congress held in Punte Del Este, Uruguay saw over 700 delegates from 36 countries discuss issues such as global trends, trade and policies, animal care and health, consumer trust, sustainability, human health and nutrition and governance.
Presentations at the congress each shared a global vision of committing to the future of the planet, protecting the planet and preserving food security.
One speaker at the event was Li Shuilong, executive president of the China Meat Association. He told delegates that China is forecast to increase imports of meat to ten million tons by 2020, driven by rising consumption.
Shuilong explained that whilst the country’s meat production is expected to rise in the next five years to 90 million tons – the majority of which will continue to be pork – demand from consumers is expected to reach 100 million tons.
The Chinese government is to focus on two key areas in the coming years, Shuilong said. It will work to speed up the modernisation of the meat production and processing sectors and will also look to strengthen food safety supervision.
A new executive board for the International Meat Secretariat was appointed prior to the congress. Guillaume Roue from France was reelected as president and Shuilong was reelected as vice president. Fernando Gil, general manager of the INAC, from Uruguay was also appointed as vice president.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
