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Uruguay explores Mexican markets for further agricultural exports Uruguay’s Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries (MGAP) is working to significantly strengthen trade ties with Mexico, through new market access for high-value agricultural products such as citrus fruits and cereals, while seeking to ease protocols for meat imports. MGAP Minister Alfredo Fratti is currently leading a delegation in Mexico for a series of meetings aimed at advancing the trade agenda. His team includes Uruguay's Ambassador to Mexico, Santiago Wins, technical advisor Carlos Corujo, and National Meat Institute (INAC) President Gastón Scayola. The first official meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Berdegué, was described as “very positive” by Minister Fratti, who also explained that the delegation presented a concrete agenda requested by various Uruguayan trade associations, focusing on several key areas, including the relaxation of health protocols, particularly the entry of bone-in sheep meat via the sheep compartment system, working to gain sanitary approval for the export of mandarins, a product currently barred from the Mexican market. Uruguay is also pushing for the opening of the rice market. Fratti noted a “pleasant surprise” when Secretary Berdegué committed to “promoting and trying to resolve everything that can be advanced in the Free Trade Agreement” between the two countries. Mandarins are part of a broader goal to increase Uruguay's fruit shipments. Currently, the citrus sector exports approximately 80,000 tons of fruit annually, and the MGAP’s objective is to raise that figure to 130,000 tons by 2028, it was explained. Regarding bone-in sheep meat, the goal is to secure approval through the sheep compartment, a sanitary tool recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). “The sheep compartment guarantees that the animals are free of foot-and-mouth disease without the need for vaccination, which opens up the possibility of new high-value commercial destinations,” Fratti pointed out. Uruguay has already submitted the necessary technical information requested by Mexican authorities for the evaluation of mandarin exports as negotiations continue.
