USDA's Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed an amendment to current regulations on fresh beef imports from Brazil, opening the doors to beef shipments from some Brazilian states under specific conditions.

The proposed regulatory change would allow the importation of chilled or frozen beef from Brazil while continuing to protect US cattle from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) infection. APHIS said based on a risk assessment and a series of site visits, Brazil has the veterinary infrastructure to detect and eradicate an FMD outbreak.

Imported beef would be subject to regulations that would mitigate the risk of FMD introduction, including movement restrictions, inspections, removal of potentially affected parts and a maturation process. In Addition, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) must determine Brazil as eligible to export fresh or frozen beef products after a final regulation by APHIS has been published.

However, the impact on the US domestic market is expected to be limited. APHIS forecasts annual imports of fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from Brazil to range between 20,000 and 65,000 tonnes, with an average volume of 40,000 tonnes, which would add less than 1% to total US beef imports. APHIS also estimates that the wholesale price of beef, the retail price of beef, and the price of cattle would decrease by 0.11%, 0.04%, and 0.14%, respectively.

"Economic effects of the rule for both US producers and consumers are expected to be very small. Producers' welfare would be negatively affected, but not significantly. Gains for consumers would outweigh producer losses, resulting in a net benefit to the US economy."