NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Construction of a slaughterhouse has begun in Alashankou in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, making the inland port the region’s first to import live cattle directly from Kazakhstan, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
The project, with a total investment of 660 million yuan (98 million U.S. dollars), will be composed of five quarantine farms. An estimated 100,000 heads of beef cattle are expected to be quarantined a year once the first phase of the construction is completed in October.
Another 140,000 heads a year will be quarantined before being slaughtered after the second phase is completed by next October.
Arman Utegulov, representing the agricultural ministry of Kazakhstan, said 10,000 farms and 5,000 to 6,000 food processing factories in Kazakhstan will guarantee the meat supply for the project.
In 2018, Kazakhstan exported 33 thousand tons of meat to 11 countries, Kazakh Deputy Minister of Agriculture Gulmira Issayeva told a briefing in Nur-Sultan last week, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
Beef exports amounted to 19.9 thousand tons. The regions leading in the export of beef are Turkestan (5,000 tons), Aktobe and Almaty regions (4,000 tons each).
Exporting enterprises work in cooperation with small and medium-sized farms. In total, more than 19 thousand farms are involved in the meat animal husbandry program.
In addition, Issayeva spoke about the entry of Kazakhstani agro-industrial enterprises in the registers of foreign countries.
According to the rules of international trade of the WTO, the export of livestock products and feed can be carried out only from enterprises included in the Registries on the basis of inspections or a guarantee of the veterinary service.
As of April 1, 2019, a total of 2,018 Kazakhstani enterprises for livestock production and processing are included in the Registers of third countries and the EEU.
