The Indian buffalo supply chain has to deal with a double problem. The first: Beijing blocks meat. A ban on New Delhi beef has been in force in China since 2001, but for a year now authorities have also prevented imports from third parties. And here we come to the second problem. Indian slaughterers, left with almost nothing in their hands, ask at least for the export liberalisation of raw buffalo leathers.
Beijing blocks meat
To photograph the disaster are the data of the reference association (All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association). In the first 10 months of 2019, the export of buffalo meat to the main Asian partners decreased by 23% in volume and 15-20% in value. The trend refers to sales in countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar. It is from these ports, explains Al Jazeera, that Indian producers triangulated sales to get around the Chinese ban. But now that animal husbandry is battered by swine fever epidemic, in the People’s Republic they no longer want to take risks. All irregular imports are prevented.
At least the leathers
While waiting for alternative markets for meat, the buffalo meat actors are asking the government to at least lower or remove the export duty on tanning raw materials. There is a 40% export duty on buffalo leather in India (already reduced, as it was previously 60%). An insurmountable barrier remains: in order to breathe, the supply chain needs international markets.
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