July 26, 2007

Brazil and Russia devise new rules for meat trade

Brazil and Russia signed another trade agreement on meat, which pays special attention to food safety matters, the Agriculture Ministry said in a press release Wednesday (July 25).

The document contains a list of procedures that Brazilian beef, chicken and pork exporters must follow in order to ship meat to Russia.

Brazilian animal health official Inacio Kroetz is in Russia discussing animal health issues with Russia's food inspector service. "So far the mission has been a success," Kroetz said in the press release.

He said meat packers that were recently banned by Russia from shipping beef could be permitted back into the Russian market. Further details were expected next week, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Russia has taken Brazil's animal inspection service to task a number of times over the past year, saying that the government was unable to guarantee meat quality. Russia said beef, in particular, was being bought and shipped by trading companies from states currently off-limits for the Russian market because of an embargo. Russia has bans on a few states because of concerns about foot-and-mouth disease.

Russia is Brazil's No. 1 beef market. Brazil is the world's leading beef exporter.