USMEF Weekly Audio Report: WTO Ruling an Important Win for U.S. Beef Exports to Indonesia

Nov 14, 2017

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled in favor of the United States in a dispute over Indonesia’s complex import requirements for a number of agricultural products, including U.S. beef. The ruling is expected to open up significant new export opportunities for U.S. beef in the Indonesian market.

Thad Lively, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) senior vice president for trade access, explains that Indonesia’s import restrictions were originally aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in beef production but actually resulted in tight beef supplies and high prices for consumers. He notes that the ruling gives both U.S. exporters and Indonesian importers confidence that the market will remain open to U.S. beef, paving the way for significant growth.

Last year U.S. beef and beef variety meat exports to Indonesia were 10,783 metric tons (mt) valued at $39.4 million, making it the ninth-largest export market for U.S. beef by volume and 15th-largest by value. Through September of this year, exports to Indonesia already nearly matched last year’s totals, reaching 9,934 mt valued at $36.6 million. Indonesia is currently the third-largest export market for U.S. beef hearts, following Mexico and Hong Kong.

Source: usmef.org

Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.