Serbia exported only 1,200 tons of beef to the EU market last year, out of the quota of 8,000 tons, Minister of Agriculture and Trade Dusan Petrovic said Tuesday.

"Our goal is to reach a good percentage of the EU export quota," Petrovic told reporters after visiting the Stokoimpeks slaughterhouse in Knjazevac.

Petrovic pointed out that Stokoimpleks is one of the slaughterhouses with a permit to export meat to the EU, and noted its export rose 10 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Petrovic reminded that six Serbian dairies and six slaughterhouses were recently approved for export to Russia, and expressed hope that more producers will follow soon.

He noted that talks are ongoing with several more countries and that the Serbian meat, dairy and processing industries should break into some new markets.

Stokoimpreks manager Dragi Lazarevic said that the slaughterhouse produces raw beef, and noted that its entire baby beef output is exported.

Lazarevic said that 10,000 cattle were slaughtered last year, and the number should be even higher this year.