Colombia has everything to be an exporting powerhouse of meat, but it faces challenges that limit its competitiveness.

Colombia, with more than 30 million heads of cattle, boasts one of the largest herds in the world. However, this potential contrasts with a worrying reality: nearly 40% of bovine slaughter is carried out clandestinely. As is already known, this practice not only erodes legality in the value chain but also represents a direct risk to public health, affects the profitability of legal slaughterhouses, and perpetuates an inefficient economic model, as warned by Óscar Cubillos Pedraza, head of Planning and Economic Studies at Fedegán – FNG. Enemy of the system Illegal bovine slaughter has become one of the major internal saboteurs of the meat sector. Animals stolen and slaughtered in fields or facilities without sanitary control end up in markets without traceability or sanitary guarantees, demonstrating that control is weak. Municipal health secretariats, key in the surveillance of commercialization, lack resources and personnel. And Invima, with coverage limited to a few ...