July 29, 2026

 

Argentina gets access to Indonesia's beef market

 

 

Argentina has secured access to the Indonesian market for beef and offal exports, adding another major supplier to a key Australian export destination.

 

The opening of access to Argentinean beef and dairy products follows a sanitary agreement between Argentina's National Service of Agrifood Health and Quality (SENASA) and Indonesia's Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services (DGLAHS), enabling Argentine exporters to meet Indonesia's import requirements.

 

Indonesia has the world's fourth-largest population, with almost 288 million people, more than 87% of whom are Muslim. With a national cattle herd now believed to be less than 12 million head, the country is heavily reliant on imported beef and dairy products to meet domestic demand.

 

Traditionally, Indonesia has sourced most of its imported beef and offal from Australia through both live cattle and boxed beef.

 

However, for several years, Indonesia has increasingly moved to diversify its supply base.

 

The country opened its market to low-priced frozen Indian buffalo meat (IBM) in 2016, and this year granted significantly expanded import quotas to beef from Brazil earlier this year, while also agreeing to duty-free access for US beef under a sweeping bilateral trade agreement finalised in February 2026.

 

While US export volumes remain constrained by historically low cattle numbers, Brazil has moved quickly to capitalise on its expanded access.

 

During the first half of this year, Brazil became Indonesia's second-largest supplier of beef offal, with export volumes approaching Australia's.

 

Indonesia has now further broadened its supplier base by granting market access to Argentine beef and dairy products.

 

The move follows a series of export reforms under Argentine President Javier Milei. In late 2024, Argentina ended a three-and-a-half-year ban on beef exports, before lifting a 52-year prohibition on live cattle exports in early 2025 as part of a broader push to expand agricultural exports.

 

The latest agreement appears to have been in the pipeline for some time. In December 2025, The Jakarta Post reported that Argentine Government officials were meeting with their Indonesian counterparts to progress sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) protocols, certification requirements and compliance with Indonesia's stringent halal standards.

 

Argentina is expected to target a broad range of products, primarily frozen manufacturing beef and selected offal through to higher-value cuts destined for hotels, restaurants and modern retail outlets.

 

Australian trade sources have told Beef Central that increasing volumes of South American beef are now appearing throughout South-East Asian markets, including Indonesia, sitting in a midpoint price and quality niche between premium Australian beef and lower-priced Indian buffalo meat.

 

Argentina's exports will have to compete for a share of Indonesian import permits alongside other suppliers, but it is expected to increase competition with Australian exporters in the key export market for offal and bone.

 

Meat & Livestock Australia estimates domestic production meets only about 65% of Indonesia's beef consumption.

 

According to MLA data in the 12 months to August 2024, Indonesia imported 146,040 tonnes shipped weight of beef. Australia accounted for 49 percent of imports by volume, while India supplied 37 percent. The United States and New Zealand provided most of the remaining imports.

 

- Beef Central