The Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry and the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary, in close cooperation with the operator, has made the first export of live cattle from the Azores to Morocco.
 
The 58 mixed beef cattle specimens aged between 8 and 12 months, bred in two farms on Pico Island, arrived Wednesday to that West African country.
 
This is a very important operation for the Azorean livestock farming, at a time when sanitary barriers are an increasingly serious obstacle to the transport of animals and, thus, to the trade of live animals and products.
 
The acknowledged health status of regional livestock has allowed the export of live animals to the European Union (Spain) and now, for the first time, to Morocco.
 
At a time when there are no physical barriers between Member States, this progress is so vital to the development of new business relations established by Azoreans entrepreneurs, in this case with third countries.
 
We are already preparing another export process to the same destination with a new shipment of animals.
 
The conquest of new markets, such as Morocco, could be an important stimulus for regional cattle production, either in milk and meat production or in reproduction. In fact, it may represent an important incentive in the increase of prices paid to Azorean producers as their income will improve, particularly in a challenging period for the Azorean agriculture.
 
This is also a sign to European and other external economic operators, evidencing the quality and potential of animal specimens exported by the Azores. It may also be a starting point for new realities in meat trade and production as well as in genetics in the Region.