October 28, 2005
Brazil increases spending against FMD; 45 countries now ban Brazilian beef imports
Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said late Wednesday that Romania and Colombia have banned imports of Brazilian beef, bringing the number of 45 countries that have suspended Brazilian beef exports because of an FMD outbreak in Mato Grosso do Sul.
"Colombia and Romania aren't huge markets for Brazil, but if this keeps up we will run out of countries to export to," said Rodrigo Lima, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of International Trade Negotiations, known as Icone, in Sao Paulo.
Colombia banned meat exports, including beef, poultry and pork, from all 26 Brazilian states. From January to September 2005, Colombia imported US$117,310 worth of Brazilian meat, according to a press statement by the Agriculture Ministry.
Romania's ban is strictly on beef from Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo. According to government numbers, Romania is a new market for Brazilian beef vendors. Brazil's boneless beef exports to Romania were valued at US$28.3 million between January and September 2005.
Embargoes on Brazilian beef products occurred shortly after the first case of FMD was discovered on a small farm in Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul, on Oct 10. In the weeks following, a total of 10 more farms within a 25-kilometre radius were confirmed to have cattle with foot-and-mouth disease.
Just over 100 bovines had the disease, leading to the eventual slaughter of an estimated 10,000 cattle. Mato Grosso do Sul has a herd of 24.9 million.
Last week, four farms in Parana state were under investigation for FMD. The Secretary of Agriculture of that state said lab results of 23 bovines with symptoms of the disease would be released no earlier than Friday.
The following countries have restrictions on Brazilian meat exports, according to the Agricultural Ministry:
- South Africa: national ban on beef, poultry and pork
- Argentina: banned beef and its derivatives from south Mato Grosso do Sul
- Bolivia: banned beef and pork products and its derivatives from Mato Grosso do Sul
- Chile: national beef ban
- Singapore: Mato Grosso do Sul beef ban
- Colombia: national meat ban
- Cuba: national pork ban (does not import beef)
- Egypt: beef products and derivatives from Mato Grosso do Sul
- EU-25: beef ban for Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo
- Indonesia: national ban on animal products and derivatives, soymeal, agricultural equipment
- Israel: national beef ban
- Mozambique: meat ban from Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo states
- Namibia: national beef ban
- Norway: meat ban from Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo states
- Paraguay: animal ban for Mato Grosso do Sul
- Peru: national ban on beef and pork
- Romania: beef ban from Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo
- Russia: meat, milk ban for Mato Grosso do Sul
- Switzerland: Live animals and meat products from Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana and Sao Paulo
- Ukraine: meat ban for Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana
- Uruguay: national beef and pork ban
Brazil is the no. 1 beef exporter, shipping 1.876 million tonnes of beef to world markets between January and September 2005, up from 1.4 million over the same period last year.
FMD already has had an impact on Brazil reaching the top 10 import markets, said Lima. Brazil exports to only four of the world's top 10 fresh beef importers.
"Whenever there has been a case of FMD in Brazil, it has always been followed by a huge drop in export volume and value," said Antonio Jorge Camardelli, executive director of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, or Abiec.
Lima said: "I wouldn't risk saying what Brazilian producers will lose because of foot-and-mouth, but countries like South Korea, Japan and Mexico don't import from Brazil because we are not free of foot-and-mouth."
After a small case of FMD was found in Para and Amazonas states in 2004, exports to Russia fell from US$32 million in November 2004 to US$10 million in December 2004, followed by two months of sales under US$10 million before picking up again, according to a study released Wednesday by Icone.
From January to September, Russia has imported more than US$406 million of Brazilian beef. Russia represents 15 percent of world beef imports. Only the US imports more beef, currently around 35 percent of the world total, according to Abiec.
Government increases spending on FMD
The Agriculture Ministry said in a press statement Thursday that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will sign a provisional measure to make 33 million real (US$1.2 million) available to areas with confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease. Twenty million real would be used for aid to cattle ranchers who were forced to sacrifice their herds.
"The actions we are taking are required by the Organization of Animal Health," Rodrigues said in a statement. "They are clear, classic rules that we are following, even following them more rigorously than normal."
"Everything now depends on the government's actions," said Fabiano Tito Rosa, agronomist at Scot Consultoria. "They have to show their credibility to overseas markets, showing them that this won't happen again, and start to negotiate the end to these embargoes."
Rosa charged that 3.5 million real in federal animal health and technical support promised to Mato Grosso do Sul state never arrived.
"The larger ranchers vaccinated, but you have to have someone to show smaller cattle ranchers how to vaccinate. You have to monitor the border with Paraguay. It would have been better if they had spent the money up front rather than doing it now," Rosa said.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, of the 91.1 million real budgeted for agriculture sanitation, 55.4 million real has been spent. Roughly 68 million real was budgeted for animal health, with a total of 43.8 million real being spent as of Oct 19, the government said Thursday.
