Certifications and quality

Accessing the most demanding markets requires a lot of work in safety measures. Therefore, meat certification allows us to ensure that products obtained throughout a series of stages are under control.

Besides from animal health and meat safety, certification also allows plants to meet specific commercial requirements from customers.

From the beginning, certifications have been issued for final products. Therefore, since 30 years ago, Uruguay has been guaranteeing a minimum level of commercial quality for all of its meat exports through the Official Certification of Quality Control.

Product certification requirements were becoming more and more demanding as to the industrialization process itself, therefore, besides from final products, the final stages of said process-slaughter conditions, refrigeration, deboning- were also included in certifications.

Finally, in recent years, requirements from markets and from final consumers have begun to aim firstly at the farm production level, then at livestock shipment and transport, and also at the industrial stage, up to the final product.

Thus, implementing a traceability system, both for cattle and for beef, becomes an indispensable tool to grant these kinds of certifications.

INAC, on compliance of its duties, issues a series of certifications including:

Mandatory certifications such as the Official Certification of Quality Control (COCC) or the Hilton quota certification that Uruguay offers as product quality assurance for markets.

Optional certifications, these being understood as certifications required by specific markets, which the Institute issues for exporters on their demand; it is the case of beef certification required by the Chilean government to ensure the fulfillment of requirements established by Chilean standards.

Voluntary certifications, these are the ones that INAC, in ongoing search for better opportunities to place Uruguayan meats in markets around the world, issues as a differentiation tool.

These certifications are issued under Meat Certification Programs (MCP).