I am delighted to invite meat and livestock professionals the world over to come to Paris from 4-6 June 2012 for the nineteenth IMS World Meat Congress.

France’s long-standing love affair with its farming culture and  traditions continues to this day.   Parisians take great pride in their rural roots, and  flock in their many thousands to the annual agricultural show where the major attraction is the display of magnificent livestock from all over France. So Paris is a most appropriate destination for the Congress. That wonderful city   holds many happy memories for the IMS, which held its Seventh World Meat Congress there in 1988.

The Paris Meat Congress will be a very special event.

 

Not only will it be held in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, but the French meat and livestock sector is cooperating with its counterparts throughout the European Union in its organisation.   The fact that the twenty-seven countries of  the European Union have formed a vast single internal market, and that agriculture is a major role-player,  has major implications far beyond Europe.  Supplying the EU’s population of almost 500 million people with red meat represents a constant  challenge for Europe but also for meat exporting countries throughout the world.

The two yearly World Meat Congress is a unique occasion when colleagues from varied horizons meet and discuss the issues affecting our industry, tackle our mutual problems and face common challenges in a spirit of respect and cooperation. I wish to thank our friends in the French meat industry for their initiative and enthusiasm in preparing the event, and I look forward to meeting you in Paris.

 

Arturo LLAVALLOL
International Meat Secretariat President