World news story

Historic import of British sheep genetics to Paraguay

Cabaña JCB Las Magnolias in Paraguay completed the import of embryos of British Texel sheep breeds.

• From: British Embassy Asunción and Department for Business and Trade Paraguay
• Published: 7 October 2022
• Last updated: 4 April 2023 — See all updates

This was published under the 2022 Truss Conservative government

Photo courtesy of Las Magnolias

Cabaña Las Magnolias, a Paraguay-based business, received its first shipment of Texel embryos, a British sheep breed of high genetic value. Las Magnolias had taken the previous steps to import embryos of Hampshire Down and Texel sheep on 21 September, with the advice of Cabaña Don José from Uruguay and Cabaña Don Luis.

This acquisition comes a year after the opening of imports from the UK, achieved through coordinated work between the Paraguayan Association of Sheep Breeders (APCO), the Association of Texel Producers, the National Animal Health and Quality Service (SENACSA) and the British Embassy in Paraguay.

Speaking to local media, Las Magnolias owner Johanna Bottrell said:

It was a historic event for Paraguay (. . .) the arrival of the Texel breed embryos from the UK, they are the first embryos to arrive in our country.

It is something to celebrate at a national level for the sheep-culture, especially for the Texel breed, it is like moving 10 steps forward.

As part of the local activities for the promotion of British genetics, the Texel Paraguay Association and Cabaña Las Magnolias will present a field trip “Why use Texel?” on Saturday 8 October 2022 from 9am to 1pm at the headquarters of Las Magnolias in Coronel Oviedo. For more information about this event, phone (0972) 139 560.

Sheep development cooperation

The Department for International Trade (DIT) of the British Embassy in Paraguay began conversations in mid-2020. Working with SENACSA and its British counterpart, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Paraguay opened its market for imports of British sheep genetics after a 10-month bilateral technical dialogue.

Following the opening of the market, DIT in conjunction with the British Organisation for Technology, Genetics and Agriculture (UKTAG) organised a trade mission to the UK in June 2022. Three sheep breeders from Paraguay participated and visited the genetic establishments in England.

Gonzalo Grosso, DIT Officer in Paraguay said:

All this is possible thanks to the joint work, and especially thanks to the collaboration with SENACSA. We will continue to build on the progress made so far, promoting British sheep farming in Paraguay.

UK’s ovine leadership

The UK is one of the top 10 sheep-producing countries in the world, and the largest in Europe in terms of numbers and exports, with some 90 sheep breeds. Paraguay already has local producers breeding British breeds of sheep, such as Hampshire Down and Texel, the latter being a British-Dutch hybrid. This new achievement reaffirms Paraguay as a centre for the production of world-class sheep genetics.

United Kingdom offers export certification for:

• sheep semen and embryos to the 27 members of the European Union
• semen to Brazil, Canada and the United States
• semen and embryos to Chile, Guyana, Mexico, New Zealand and other countries

British Breeding sheep: performance, tradition and innovation (PDF, 1.03MB, 8 pages)

Visit the Department of International Trade page to learn more about doing business in Paraguay.

Published 7 October 2022
Last updated 4 April 2023 + show all updates

1. 4 April 2023

   Added translation to Latin American Spanish

2. 7 October 2022

   Added translation