The Minister of Tourism and Public Health, Mr. Dangui Oduber, is pleased to announce that the evaluation phase to resume beef imports from Colombia is in its final stages. To reach this point, a comprehensive and responsible process was followed to ensure the sanitary safety of the meat. Currently, meat can only be imported from slaughterhouses in the U.S. or European Union member countries, or from slaughterhouses authorized to export to the U.S. or the European Union.

As part of the evaluation to resume beef imports from Colombia, the Ministry of Tourism and Public Health representatives participated in a Commercial Mission to Colombia last May. This mission was organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Communication, and Sustainable Development, along with the Aruba Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Kingdom’s Embassy and Holland House in Bogotá.

During the Commercial Mission, meetings were held with relevant institutions, including the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) and the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA). Representatives of the agricultural sector also gave several presentations and modern laboratories that conduct tests to ensure the safety and quality of the meat were visited.

During this visit, it was observed that Colombia has developed a high-level meat safety and quality supervision system for human consumption over the years. As a result, the country exports to around 84 countries worldwide, including our sister island, Curaçao. It was also noted that several companies with slaughterhouses in Colombia are multinational companies with high-quality standards that already export various other food products to Aruba and/or export meat to Aruba from their plants in other countries.

As part of the evaluation to resume beef imports from Colombia, representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Public Health and the Veterinary Department recently participated as observers in an audit conducted by the Executive Organization for Veterinary Affairs of Curaçao at slaughterhouses in Colombia. This audit was assisted by an expert from the “Nederlandse Voedsel en Warenautoriteit.” Based on this visit, together with experts from the Dutch Kingdom, it was confirmed that Colombia’s supervision system for meat safety and quality for human consumption is of high quality.

Furthermore, there is another significant development: in mid-July 2024, Colombia advanced from “Step 3B” to “Step 4” in the USDA evaluation (which consists of 6 steps), demonstrating that Colombia is making continuous progress in its efforts to export meat to the U.S. market eventually.

The Ministry of Tourism and Public Health has now reached the final stage, which involves stipulating the export terms based on a bilateral agreement (“Sanitary Protocol”) that outlines the requirements to ensure the export process meets high standards of quality and safety. The Ministry is in the final phase of this process and is in dialogue with all relevant institutions to finalize and achieve this change.

Thus, the Ministry of Tourism and Public Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Communication, and Sustainable Development, and in consultation with various Governmental institutions in the Dutch Kingdom and Colombia, has made significant progress on the topic of importing beef from Colombia. It is expected that, after approximately 20 years, this will soon resume.

Minister Dangui Oduber and the Wever-Croes Cabinet have long aimed to import beef from Colombia, as this would allow the market to offer beef at a better price to the Aruba community. This change in import management will allow an additional option for beef imports, thereby creating variety and helping to lower the cost of living for many households in Aruba.