In this week’s U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) audio report, we learn about a team of veterinary officials from Uzbekistan and their recent trip to the United States for an educational visit covering all aspects of the U.S. beef and pork supply chain.

Yuri Barutkin (pronounced ba-root-kin), a USMEF representative for the Greater Russia region, talks about the points emphasized during the trip, including steps taken by the U.S. meat industry to assure a high level of food safety and industry research being conducted to combat porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). While open to U.S. beef imports, Uzbekistan is currently closed to U.S. pork due to PEDV-related restrictions.

With a population of nearly 30 million, Uzbekistan is the largest market in Central Asia. Because its population is more than 90 percent Muslim, pork is consumed in smaller quantities than beef, lamb or poultry. However, 25 percent of the country’s population does consume pork, and nearly all of it is currently imported from the European Union and Brazil. Barutkin points out that there is an opportunity for the U.S. meat industry to make great progress in the Uzbekistan market, especially within the meat processing sector.