Competition Barriers to Paraguayan Beef Exports: An Economic Review

Abstract

Paraguay's beef industry has suffered sustained damage in credibility directly related to meat quality and process hygiene standards over the past two decades. These factors alone, however, are not the primary cause of persistent price discounting in export markets. Paraguay's direct competitors have suffered similar export restrictions related to quality control but have since recovered to capture their original market share. We find that both a perceived and an actual absence of quality controls over beef production, coupled with the lack of an industry body representing Paraguay's beef sector, are the major impediments to growth in the export market. The lack of sustained support and marketing of export-quality beef has led to persistent price discounting, despite quality improvements across the supply chain. The capacity to gain international market share remains diminished due to the disaggregated approach in which Paraguayan beef is marketed to foreign buyers. An industry-wide effort to coordinate food safety and quality activities, as well as maintaining certification programmes, market intelligence, export promotion and research and development could offer some degree of competitive advantage to Paraguay's producers. While the idea of a central industry body has clear advantages, of greater value would be establishing meat quality standards that address the deficiencies in consumption-level responsiveness to meat quality. The establishment of an industry body would need to overcome the hurdles associated with related transaction costs across the alliance.