Uruguay's National Meat Institute (INAC) has identified irregularities and imposed sanctions on several meatpacking plants due to deviations in dressing—the percentage of carcass weight removed between the third and fourth weighings—although the institute does not consider the issue to be widespread. Leonardo Bove, INAC's vice president, made the comments in an interview with Oriental Agropecuaria.
"These are isolated cases," Bove said, stressing that the objective of the controls is not punitive. "INAC is not interested in generating revenue through fines. The goal is to correct the problem. Beyond an isolated case that can be corrected and, if necessary, sanctioned, what we are really trying to do is address the underlying issue," he explained. He also highlighted the work carried out by the Inspection and Quality departments to identify and correct deviations at individual plants.
Asked whether producers should have access to the list of plants that have been flagged or sanctioned—particularly after the Ministry of Livestock withdrew from the Budget Accountability Bill the provision that would have allowed the industry to be informed about farms with residue violations—Bove was cautious. He noted that dressing data are already available to each producer through INAC's Sitio del Ganadero (Livestock Producer Portal), where they can view photographs of their carcasses, their individual dressing percentages, and compare them with national averages.
Regarding the modernization of inspection systems, Bove confirmed that artificial intelligence is being incorporated as an analytical tool through INAC's Technology Department. "Sampling capabilities increase significantly," he said, explaining that the monitoring system is risk-based: the more frequently a plant records irregularities, the more intensive the monitoring becomes.
INAC's weekly report on carcass weights, yields, and dressing by establishment shows significant differences among plants for cattle slaughter during the first half of 2026. Dressing measures the percentage of carcass weight retained between the third and fourth weighings and is one of the key controls carried out by the institute.
For beef-breed steers and crosses weighing more than 380 kg, the average dressing percentage during the period was 8.00%, based on 449,000 head slaughtered. Six plants exceeded that average: San Jacinto-Nirea led with 9.44%, followed by Casablanca (8.80%), Canelones-Minerva (8.74%), Sirsil (8.23%), Las Piedras (8.17%), and Breeders & Packers Uruguay-Minerva (8.09%).
For beef-breed cows and crosses weighing more than 370 kg, the average dressing percentage was 7.75%, based on 293,000 head slaughtered. Eight plants exceeded that level: Sirsil led with 8.64%, followed by San Jacinto-Nirea (8.63%), Casablanca (8.41%), Colonia-MBRF (8.12%), Inaler-MBRF (8.08%), Arroyal (7.89%), Chiadel-Las Moras (7.82%), and Pulsa-Minerva (7.80%).
