November 18, 2013

China may remove Brazilian beef ban

China will send inspectors to Brazil in December 2013 to discuss the resumption of Brazilian beef exports to the Chinese market, after the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2012.

Since December 2012, Brazilian beef imports have been banned in China when it was revealed that a cow which died in the Parana state was infected with Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). However, Chinese authorities have indicated that they are willing to consider lifting the ban, and the Brazilian government said it was positive exports to the Asian nation would resume soon.

Brazil has plans to increase Brazilian meat exports to China considerably in the future, adding that the country had recently approved five more chicken and pork abattoirs to export to China, according to the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock.

Meanwhile, Russia has cleared three Brazilian exporters, Mataboi, OSI and JBS, to export beef to Russia. Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) said that the Russian veterinary service authorised the plants after Brazil sent evidence that they had corrected flaws identified by Russian vets two years ago.

With six plants previously cleared for export to Russia in October, MAPA predicted that Brazilian beef exports would reach a "record high" in value this year.