South America, Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic: Market access and barriers to trade

To export meat and dairy products to other countries, the UK requires the relevant export health certificate (EHC). Even if this documentation is in place, tariff rates or other factors may create obstacles.

Red meat

In most Central and South American countries, the UK does not have EHCs in place. Two exceptions are the Dominican Republic and Chile, as shown in Table 1. Offal is also included under the criteria of these EHCs.

Table 1. UK EHCs for exporting red meat to selected Central and South American countries

Source: Animal and Plant Health Agency Find an export health certificate - GOV.UK

In principle, the UK has an EHC place to export beef to Chile, due to ‘grandfather rights’ from when it was part of the EU. However, practically, the UK does not have any exporters listed under this EHC and exports cannot take place until these details are finalised.    

The latest WTO tariff rates for beef, pork and sheep meat imports in selected Central and South American countries are shown in Table 2.  Please note that the tariff rates shown in Table 2 are the latest WTO averaged tariff rates for the relevant four-digit harmonised system (HS) code assigned to different commodities/products. More recent tariff rates for individual six-digit (or higher than six-digit) HS codes can be found on the WTO website.

The UK has a trade agreement in place with Chile (which is a continuity deal from when the UK was part of the EU). Under this agreement, the UK can export beef, pork and sheep meat tariff free to Chile. However, as an EHC is only in place for beef and pork exports to Chile, these are the only red meats that can be sent to the country.

The UK also has an agreement with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama under the UK-Central America association agreement (also a continuity deal from when the UK was part of the EU). This allows the UK to export sheep meat, tariff free to these countries, but the obstacle here is the lack of EHCs. Furthermore, sheep meat consumption in Central America is considerably lower than that of beef, pork and poultry.

Table 2. Average import tariffs for red meat in selected Central and South American countries (%)

Averaged tariff rates are expressed as % of price, unless otherwise stated
*Colombia adopted the Andean Price Band System (SAFP in Spanish) which aims to stabilise import prices of certain goods, such as pork, and so these tariffs are updated every fortnight.

Source: World Trade Organisation

The UK–Andean countries trade agreement is another continuity deal from the UK’s previous membership of the EU and comprises Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Under this agreement, the UK can export pork to Peru at a preferential rate of 3% rather than the WTO MFN rate of 6% (Table 2), as well as have tariff-free access for sheep meat to the three countries. There is also a 234 t tariff rate quota (TRQ) available for UK beef exports to Peru and a 872 t TRQ for pork.

The USA has a trade deal with Colombia at 0% duty for high quality beef, and 0% duty TRQ for standard beef. Beef imports from the UK would be subject to the 80% tariff rate (shown in Table 2) as it does not have access to preferential tariff rates. Furthermore, the absence of an EHC means that the UK does not have the correct paperwork in place to export beef to Colombia, allowing for cheaper imports of beef from the USA.

During 2020 and 2021, the Dominican Republic removed tariffs on pork imports due to ASF, which led to the culling of over 60,000 pigs. Import tariffs were reintroduced in 2022. However, if domestic pig meat production becomes threatened by ASF in the future, there may be a market for British pork. This is especially important given that the UK has an EHC in place to export pork to the country.

Based on the countries shown in Table 2, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador have the highest tariff for sheep meat imports.

As a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the UK will also have access to preferential rates that Chile and Peru grant to other CPTPP members, including staged liberalisation of Peru’s beef import tariffs.

Table 3 shows WTO tariff rates for beef and pork offal. Exports of offal to Peru are tariff free, but duties imposed by Colombia for beef offal and the Dominican Republic for both beef and sheep offal are prohibitive.

Please note that the tariff rates shown in Table 3 are the latest WTO averaged tariff rates for the relevant four-digit harmonised system (HS) code assigned to different commodities/products. More recent tariff rates for individual six-digit (or higher than six-digit) HS codes can be found on the WTO website.

Table 3. Average import tariffs for red meat offal in selected Central and South American countries (%)

Source: World Trade Organisation

Dairy

For dairy, the EHC picture is more promising than that for red meat, as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. UK EHCs for exporting dairy products to selected Central and South American countries

Source: Animal and Plant Health Agency Find an export health certificate - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Despite the UK having an EHC to export dairy products to Brazil, the dairy sanitation inspection system in the UK is not currently recognised as being equivalent to that in Brazil. As a result, UK dairy exports to Brazil are not allowed. EHCs for Colombia and Honduras were also ‘on hold’ at the time of writing.

Table 5. Average import tariffs for dairy products in selected Central and South American countries (%)

Averaged tariff rates are expressed as % of price, unless otherwise stated
*Colombia adopted the Andean Price Band System (SAFP in Spanish) which aims to stabilise import prices of certain goods, such as butter, and so these tariffs are updated every fortnight.

Source: World Trade Organisation

Mature cheese imported by the Dominican Republic is also subject to value added tax on arrival, while domestically produced cheese of the same type is exempt. This gives domestic mature cheese in the Dominican Republic a competitive advantage over exports.

The UK–Chile agreement allows the UK access to a 450 tonne TRQ for cheese exports to Chile. The UK–Andean countries trade agreement provides the UK with various TRQs for dairy exports, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6. Dairy TRQs available to the UK under the UK–Andean countries trade agreement (t)

*The UK also has access to three ‘multiple dairy products’ TRQs for Ecuador totalling 87 t

Source: Department for International Trade

Under the UK–Central America association agreement, the UK also has access to cheese and powdered milk TRQs for each of the six countries, although these are between 27–67 t for powdered milk and between 42–80 t for cheese.

Infrastructure

Research by the World Bank shows that investment in infrastructure in Central and South America is low and not well targeted. The low population density within the region limits its ability to create a well-developed transport network. Specifically Central America lacks public investment in road infrastructure. Alongside the lack of well-paved roads is a highly concentrated trucking sector that limits competition and creates slow logistics development. Similarly, ports have a high level of congestion due to an inability to transport goods around the countries on roads, ending up with long waits at ports.

Costa Rica, by contrast, has benefitted from a large tourism sector and as a result has higher quality transport infrastructure.

The cost of exporting red meat and dairy to Central and South America would be considerable. Firstly, the high tariffs reduce the UK’s export competitiveness, and there may be additional duties applied (as is the case with mature cheese in the Dominican Republic). The cost of physically transporting products to the region, whether fresh or frozen, requires costly transport. As a result UK products would likely be more expensive compared with other imported (and domestic) goods once they hit retail shelves in the region.

Continue reading about the South America, Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic market

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