Colombia: Livestock farms and factories in crisis as illegal slaughter grows

Illegal slaughter of animals poses a serious threat to public HEALTH, animal welfare and rural development. it is carried out outside sanitary regulations, puts legal slaughterhouses at a disadvantage, complicates the traceability of MEAT products and harms small producers.

In departments like Boyacá, where official slaughter has declined and legal factories face fierce, unfair competition, the urgency of action has become clear. Beyond tax evasion and the threat to food security, clandestine slaughter threatens the sustainability of a fundamental activity in Colombian agriculture.

Clandestine slaughter of livestock has reached alarming proportions. In municipalities of the Tenza Valley such as San Luis de Gaceno, Santa Maria and Cibor, barely one HEAD of cattle is slaughtered per month in authorized factories, while meat consumption remains unchanged. This indicates an increasingly normalized and dangerous practice.

Didier Martinez, manager of the Valle de Tenza meat processing plant, explained that this phenomenon not only violates public health, since it does not comply with sanitary standards, but also constitutes a crime classified in the Penal Code, specifically in Article 372 on food spoilage.

"Municipal and departmental authorities are failing to cope with this crime, and there is a complete lack of coordination between mayors, police and health authorities," he said.

The consequences are not insignificant: legitimate businesses that have invested heavily in complying with current regulations, including Decree 1500 of 2007, are economically threatened by this illegal competition that circumvents technical, financial and environmental standards.

Economic and social impact

Oscar Sanchez, manager of the Frigocentro Cacique Tundana processing plant in Duitama, confirms the seriousness of the problem: “Currently, in Boyacá, it is estimated that illegal slaughter exceeds 45% of the slaughter volume in the plants. A few years ago, the two largest national plants in the department exceeded 5,000 heads per month. Today, they do not even reach 3,500.”

In addition to unfair competition, Sanchez points to the many risks that this practice entails: tax evasion, environmental impact and, above all, a serious threat to food safety. “Underground slaughterhouses do not manage by-products, do not guarantee water quality, produce untreated waste and do not comply with any sanitary standards. This poses a real danger to public health,” he explained.

On the other hand, legal businesses have developed quality management systems, comply with strict health monitoring requirements and contribute to organisations such as Invima, ICA, Corpoboyacá and Fedegán, without taking into account the positive impact they have on the formal economy and rural employment.

Collective efforts

The fight against illegal slaughter requires coordinated action. Javier Enrique Rodríguez, technical secretary of Fedegán in Boyacá, noted that this scourge “weakens the formal meat supply chain, hinders investment and limits the possibilities of moving towards sustainable and traceable production systems.”

For his part, Martinez proposed that mayors sign agreements with legal slaughterhouses so that local retailers could access official slaughter services, all with the support of Invima (the National Institute of Animal Health) and oversight of the Attorney General’s Office. He also insisted that Fedegan step up information campaigns and promote financial incentives for those who report illegal slaughter.

For their part, health departments, the ICA (National Institute of Agriculture), the National Police and local authorities must play their role in monitoring, controlling and inspecting the meat supply chain. Only with the active participation of all stakeholders can a safe, fair and sustainable food system be guaranteed.

Ending illegal slaughter is more than a health measure; it is a commitment to economic justice, animal welfare, and public health. Boyaca has the opportunity to lead a transformation that will strengthen the agricultural sector, protect consumers, and elevate the work of those who do it right.