April 8, 2008

Brazil opposes US criteria for beef imports
 

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is considering the economic impact of allowing frozen beef from Brazil, getting opposition from Brazilian officials.

In a meeting of the WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement Committee, officials from Brazil questioned the criteria and proposed that the step be reviewed or suppressed.

The US and Brazil's negotiations regarding the beef-import issue, among others, will resume in the coming weeks.

Only sanitary aspects should be considered for a risk analysis and based on that evaluation, certain regions in Brazil are ready to export to the US, said Marcio Rezende, general coordinator of bilateral and regional agreements for Brazil's Department of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Negotiations.

The main sanitary issue in Brazil is foot-and-mouth disease, and officials there aim to recover the sanitary status of FMD-free with vaccination for several states next May, during a session of the World Organization for Animal Health.

The Brazilian government plans to present a report showing control actions the country has taken and confirming the absence of viral circulation.