Investing in Imported Beef

Imagine the dilemma the foreign investor finds himself in today after this week:
1. The American Ambassador expresses concern for the security of foreign investments.
2. Then after almost a week, the DR government finally assures the investor everything is OK, just SWELL thank you.
3. Due to the investor's uncertainty, his last-minute order of frozen, Iowa beef is held up in Customs because the shipping documents of this US originated shipment are written in English.
4. And just as Customs decides the "Spanish Only" language requirement is unnecessary, the new guy at Agriculture decrees that the DR will not accept any more imported beef and the by-now soggy mess is reloaded on the next outgoing plane.
And 5. He ponders how he is going to make his next franchise payment for his Mickey D's as after today he has no more required McD Corporation-supplied hamburger patties in the freezer and he has to close the doors and send the staff on a paid vacation until someone else decides the order banning imported beef was "unnecessary."

If there was ever a need for an autonomous, government-employee Civil Service commission free of political appointments and patronage, this week's events are a clear example of it; a wake-up call that is all too obvious for everyone to ignore.

Andy, don,t think for one moment that franchises like MacDonald or Wendy,s or any other franchices are going to continue to do business in the DR if they are banned from importing their own beef that are guarantee to be real beef from corn fed cattle. Imagine buying a hamburger made from dominican beef, how secure are you that you are not eating donkey, horse, dog, cat or all of them put together. I can,t believe this is true. Are this people for real?

Beef from the US has hormones and chemicals that I would imagine are not used on the same scale in the DR.

But at least you don't need a chainsaw to cut it.

Hormones and chemicals have nothing to do with the ban. What about the Argentinian beef (also banned) sold in a number of restaurants in Santo Domingo that doesn't have these hormones and chemicals?

After reading various press releases here on DR1 it is apparent the new president is heading in a backwards direction which has always been the case of DR developement to the rest of the world.

Imagine banning US beef imports relative to the big picture. Sure the USA comes down and assists this impoverished country by establishing CBI and keeps half the country employed in the free zones that export back to the USA. Without the USA CBI initiative there would be nothing in the way of exports from the DR. Then afterwards the USA grants parity to NAFTA. In addition, do not to forget the overall positive impact to the economy these fast food chains create. Not to mention the dollar aid the USA dumps into the DR government noted with a long history of corruption. Also, there is a major trade show going on this moment (Expo USA) to create bilateral trade agreements. What perfect timing for announcing a ban on USA imports. Apparently, the new president has a government appointed associate(s) that have interests in cattle farming. Your realy have to feel sad/hostile for this type of DR BS.

Re: "Where's the Beef?"

> > > ". . . and his expensive Mickey D's restaurant closes for lack of company approved beef?" < < <

This certainly looks like a case of letting the inmates run the asylum, or is it possible that President Hip?lito thinks this unilateral action will jump start the production of "American style" beef in the DR? The last time that I was in a DR butcher shop the beef on display was still a notch or two below "Iowa corn feed", you just can not take an inferior cut of meet and magically grind in into decent hamburger patties. As Dominican beef production comes up to speed (in three or four years time) the fast food restaurant menus will just have a few changes in the mean time, possibly your "Big Mac" will become a "Toro Grande Sahweche" served with platano fries, etc.

Regards,

. . . CES

Re: World Trade Organization

If I'm not mistaken the DR is signatory to the WTO treaty and by banning the importation of ALL beef they are just thumbing their nose at the rest of the world. President Hip?lito, and company, are just a little 'out of tune' with the way international trade operates.

The 'PRD' has always been the "Party of the People" (read Campo) and political patronage is the name of their game.

Regards,

. . . CES

I don't think this sound of messure will last form more than a week. It is obvious that President Mej?a is committed with the local farmer, but the new government is just testing how much political patronage they can introduce in order to pay back campaign debts. As usual, everything will come back to normality after someone (who received the favor of making profits from beef scarcity) have made a big deal in the local market. Hip?lito knows how much Dominicans need having a good relationship with the US and with the business community, especially with the foreign investors.

Spreading the wrong information???

Perhaps it was an error in DR1's translation or perhaps a last minute amendment (I doubt this is the case), but for those of you who jumped on the sensationalistic bandwaggon, here is a helpful link. I think the measures are prudent and necessary, as far as I read them.

Regards,
Natasha

Hummmmm...you must "know" the DR meat/ganaderia system very well!...You must have the "inside" scoop of the "secret" ingredients of ground meat in the DR. Perhaps you even "knew" about Mad Cow disease, the "secret" ingredient in British beef before all of us did.

Typical response.

Regards,
Natasha

Re: Spreading the wrong information???

Sensationalism???? Natasha, we are just calling them as we read them. Go back into the DR1 archives and you will see that it was reported as a BAN ON IMPORTED MEAT,...nothing was said about placing health inspections and restrictions on the imported meat.

Mad Cow disease? To refer to that in the same breath is approaching the same sensationalism that you have just decried.
I don't think anybody will argue with health standards regarding imported meat, or anything meant for consumption by humans or animals AND had it been reported that way, there would have been only a "ho-hum" comment, at best.

This issue was only one of a very trying week and if you will reread my original posting, the first part of which is an allegory, you will note that the real issue presented is the creation of a Government Civil Service free of political interference where PROFESSIONAL CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES can run the government and make day-to-day decisions without interference from some bonehead, political appointee who is only looking out for his (and his buddies) pocket.

Re: Spreading the wrong information???

Andy, I don't always read DR1's daily news snips due to time, but when you posted your original post on Friday, I did go and read the clip. You are exactly right, IT WAS REPORTED BY DR1 THAT IMPORTED MEAT WAS BEING BANNED. I was going to post my two cents on Friday about this news, but decided not to, preferring instead to read more about it...and waiting to see to what develops.

I think it is so irresponsible to post some of the things that were posted here. For you to accuse me of being sensationalistic by me replying to a particular post is the easy way out to discredit my posts. My reply to your pal was pure sarcasm, but perhaps you didn't get the point.

I stand by my statements. I prefer to assume a wait and see stand instead of an alarmist one. If you re-read my post, you will see that I clearly state that perhaps it was an error on DR1's part or a change by Mr. Vargas' office - we don't know. Perhaps DR1 reported what was reported last week and then there was a change in policy - we don't know.

What I do know is what I read today and Mr. Vargas clearly says that there is no ban on imported meats. Perhaps that will change tomorrow, next week, or next year - we don't know.

One of the things that I was going to suggest had I replied to this thread on Friday was that perhaps the so called ban had something to do with health/sanitary reasons and what "kinds" of meats were being imported. But ALAS Mr. Vargas beat me to it! His last paragraph expressed the hunch that I had regarding this issue. Oh, but how can I be so naive? ;-) How can I dare to think that there might be a legitimate concern? How dare I think this is policy reform instead of political paybacks?

Regards,
Natasha

Re: Spreading the wrong information???

I totally agree with Natasha on this. I think this thread is a case of the usual discrimination against Dominicans and lobbying for foreign investors.
The US has had its share of recalls of beef that has been contaminated by various things. andy is right that sending beef back to the US from the DR is not easy to do.
A the US has gotten stricter about importing things from other countries, and no one objects to that, and prefer things made locally....though it is logical that one foreign investor in the DR would lobby for other foreign investors, it is using political smear tactics to accuse Mejia of doing something wrong in prefering beef from the campo of the DR instead of the campo of the US. He is right in preferring DR sources of beef. Who needs McDonald's anyway?

Re: Spreading the wrong information???

Arcoiris, the DR needs McDonalds it seems. What the DR doesn't need is BAD meat. What the DR doesn't need is the "scraps" that unscrupulous importers have been bringing to the country for some time, according to Vargas.

Regards,
Natasha

Natasha, in this country the USDA works full time to protect us from meat companies that tries to circumvent quality and thats why when you buy beef ITS BEEF not horse meat (not that it has never been tried) Does the DR have an agency that regulates meat sold in stores and as rigorous inspection as the USDA. If you remember a while back there was a recall of millions of pounds of ground beef by a major distributor that was tainted with bacteria.If KFC did not import their chicken you would be eating (patio) chicken. I tasted Dominican beef and I thought I was chewing the bottom of my work boots.Thats because beef from the pasture goes right to the slaughter house rather then to the feed lot to be grain fed to take the wild taste out of it. I don,t have the inside scoop on the meat industry but I would feel safe eating in restaurant here then in any street corner restaurant there or the street food for that matter.

Scaramooch, your adopted Ugly American syndrome never ceases to amaze me. I am sure that before there was ever a USDA, there were plenty of mistakes made in the US and your beef was not as "sophisticated". But, alas I also recall plenty of recalls (and deaths) due to tainted beef served at Jack in the Box or was it Chuck E Cheeses not loo long ago - I have been in this country for several years now and I read the newspapers thoroughly. I also just saw a piece on TV last week about what is really in those chicken McNuggets. Look, this is not a comparison contest. Let the DR develop...it will make many mistakes in the process. I am sure your good old USA made the same mistakes before it reached its "developed" status.

Re: Investing in Imported Beef (Natasha)

I have to agree with Natasha on this one. Upton Sinclair wrote a great book in 1910 about the horrors of the meat packaging industry in Chicago. Workers would disappear into the "hot dog" vats and then the output was sold to the general public. The Jungle expos? resulted in the inspection of meat processing plants by the USDA. I have had great meats in the DR - beef that would melt in you mouth. Pork and chicken (criollo) with good flavor and not tough. I guess it helps getting to the market very early and selecting the meat fresh (butchered that morning). It also helps have a good chef in the kitchen. My dominican family knows how to season and prepare meat to maximize flavor and minimize toughness. Ever noticed that in households and most rural restaurants only serve meat well done? This is a traditional cultural response to minimize parasites surviving the cooking process. Common in most tropical and subtropical countries where the equivalent of a USDA doesn't exist. When I lived in England I noticed that the beef had a different flavor too (this was long before mad cow disease) and the local butcher said it was because most of the meat he sold came from primarily grass feed animals. These days people pay an arm and a leg for this type of meat - it is marketed in the US as free range beef. Go figure.

Re: Spreading the wrong information???

You have a good point, but I sure don't go to the DR to eat at McDonald's!! I would rather see a "Lopez'" and eat there! If I want to go to McDonald's I just have to go down the block and save $400 plane fare! lol

Re: Investing in Imported Beef (Natasha)

Did you have to mention pollo criollo? LOL!!! My mouth is watering. My fondest memories were those of accompanying my grandmother to the butcher to buy the meats for the day's lunch. You had to go super early to get the freshest selections and you had to eat it that day because even when you had a freezer, you really couldn't depend on electricity. My grandmother was and still is a master chef and she knew all the "secrets" to making any meat very tender, ohhhh and the seasoning...yum! It beats Morton's or Ruth Chris any day LOL!

Regards,
Natasha