October 18, 2005

FMD could cost Brazil US$1 billion in export losses

The current FMD outbreak could cost Brazil between US$500 million and $1 billion in losses this year, according to National Farm Federation's foreign trade chief Antonio Donizeti.

So far, at least 28 countries have informed Brazil of their import bans. These countries--which include the EU, South Africa, Israel and Russia--make up 40 percent of Brazil's export market.

Brazil have since formed an emergency team to control the situation and identify the source of the current outbreak, which occurred in Mato Grosso do Sul state in west-central Brazil.

Donizeti called this outbreak "a tsunami for the Brazilian beef industry".