December 3, 2010

China to lift import ban on Brazilian pork

A mission from China was in Brazil last week to look into the possible liberalisation of Brazilian pork meat exports to China, according to reports.

The members of the mission, who visited 13 refrigeration facilities, are expected to approve imports of meat from 25 Brazilian companies.

Animal health conditions at the 25 producers had previously been assessed and approved, with only inspection of refrigeration units required. Thus the ban on pork exports from Brazil to China is expected to be lifted.

According to Brazil's Ministry for Agriculture, Farming and Supply, China has approved 25 refrigeration facilities and a further 41 are under analysis for exports of poultry.

In relation to beef, China, which has authorised imports from just four Brazilian refrigeration facilities, with a further 14 being analysed, imported just 1,279 tonnes of beef from Brazil between January and October.

In the same period, the biggest imported of beef from Brazil was Hong Kong which purchased 77,500 tonnes worth US$206.6 million, according to figures from the Brazilian Meat Exporting Industry Association (Abiec).