Indonesia Allows Live Cattle Imports from Brazil, Says Government Official

Indonesia has expanded its live cattle import options by opening its market to Brazil and New Zealand, a senior Indonesian government official announced, according to a report published on the Australian portal www.beefcentral.com.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono told local media that Indonesia’s interest in sourcing live animals from new global suppliers aims to meet the country’s growing demand for protein, particularly in support of the Free Nutritious Meals program launched by President Prabowo Subianto’s administration.

His statement, according to Beef Central, followed an announcement by the Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan, that Indonesia’s live cattle import quota for 2025 will be increased by 184,000 head, totaling 534,000 head.

However, the Australian outlet noted that formal authorizations for importing cattle from Brazil and other suppliers have not yet been granted.

Australia has long been Indonesia’s sole supplier of live cattle, but the Indonesian government has consistently expressed a desire to diversify its import sources.

Still, Beef Central cautioned that although technically feasible, Brazil may face challenges in making live cattle exports to Indonesia commercially viable.

“It is economically unfeasible to import live cattle from Brazil, especially due to the much longer transport time — about three to four weeks by sea, compared to just four to five days from Australia,” the Australian portal noted.

Recently, Brazil’s beef exporters association (Abiec) stated that Indonesia and the Philippines had shown interest in importing Brazilian beef offals, following a declaration from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) that Brazil’s cattle herd is free from foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination.

According to Beef Central, in 2024, Australia’s beef offal exports to Indonesia saw significant growth, reaching 42,000 tons — representing 23% of all Australian beef offal shipments that year.

Source: Portal DBO

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