February 28, 2008

EU eases ban on Brazilian beef shipments

The European Commission announced Wednesday that it will partially lift its recently imposed blanket ban to Brazilian beef exports and allow 106 beef farms to ship products to the EU.

Subject to fulfill all EU safety requirements, the farms will be allowed to export matured and deboned beef into the EU.

EU ambassador to Brazil, Joao Pacheco, told the media that the 106 farms can resume exports right away.

Inspectors from the EU are scheduled to visit Brazilian farms this week to verify the farms' procedures.

All imports of Brazilian beef into the 27-member bloc were banned on February 1 over food safety concerns.

The Brazilian government provided the list of 106 farms after trimming a longer list of more than 300 farms, which was totally rejected by the EU.

Brazil later admitted that it had exported beef that did not meet European safety standards aimed at preventing the propagation of bovine diseases such as foot-and-mouth.

Brazil is the world's leading beef exporter, sending abroad almost 2.3 million tonnes per year, a third of total exports around the globe. Last year it earned US$4.5 billion from beef exports.

The country's biggest market is Russia, which took in 448,000 tonnes last year for a value of US$958 million.