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View all search resultsArgentina’s beef push meets Indonesia’s halal regime
The South American country can take a page out of neighboring Brazil's playbook in deepening bilateral ties with Indonesia, particularly in joining the race in the beef and dairy markets.
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A fresh meat vendor attends to a customer on April 6, 2021, at Cijantung Market in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta. (JP/Yulianto Catur Nugroho)
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ndonesia’s rapid push to deepen ties with Brazil serves as a useful mirror for Argentina. Jakarta is locking in practical cooperation, such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) actions and certifications, while also activating business-to-business channels. That same urgency is visible in food security, where beef imports are managed closely and increasingly framed through a tighter halal regime.
For Argentina, this is not a distant opportunity; it is a live race. In May 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that it reiterated the country’s interest in accessing Indonesia’s markets for beef and dairy products, while both sides discussed how to increase and diversify bilateral exchange.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), the Argentina-Indonesia trade balance in 2024 was US$1.65 billion in Argentina’s favor, meaning Argentina recorded a surplus of over $1 billion.
The next step is turning that baseline into stable, higher-value market presence.
Indonesia’s beef market is big, policy-sensitive and still structurally dependent on imports. Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) estimates domestic beef production meets around 65 percent of consumption.
In the 12 months ending in August 2024, beef imports totaled 146,040 tonnes shipped weight: Australia supplied 49 percent by volume and India 37 percent, with the United States and New Zealand supplying most of the remainder.
Indonesia’s ongoing retail beef price ceiling policy, especially around peak consumption periods, signals why approvals, allocations and timing matter as much as price.
