April 1, 2020

 

China has stopped approving new Brazilian meat plants for imports due to COVID-19

 

A Brazil Agriculture Ministry official told Reuters that all pending approvals for Brazilian meat plants for export to China has put on hold until the COVID-19 pandemic ends, reported Reuters.

 

Orlando Leite Ribeiro, Brazil's Agriculture Ministryinternational affairs secretary said the freeze in approvals has come even after China and Brazil introduced a new system to speed up approvals back in January 2020.

 

Ribeiro said the COVID-19 pandemic initially disrupted China's General Administration of Customs (GACC) back in January. Now that the virus has spread in Brazil, new plant approvals continue to be put on hold as public employees have been told to work from home.

 

He said there is strong goodwill between Brazil and China but does not expect any new approvals to come until after the outbreak slows down in Brazil.

 

China is biggest purchaser of beef, pork and chicken from Brazil.

 

Ribeiro said facilities that have been approved last year have obtained permissions to export and aren't affected by COVID-19. 25 plants were approved by China in September 2019, with another 13 additional plants approved in November last year.

 

ABPA, the Brazil meat producers' association told Reuters that new approvals have been stopped as part of new measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

 

ABPA members include Seara, JBS SA and BRF SA.

 

The new system, first tested in September last year and approved by officials in Brazil and China in December, allowed the latter to conduct an inspection of plants through a remote video link, rather than having a delegation come to the plant physically.

 

However, the system requires plenty of manpower, including members of various departments and translators.

 

Ribeiro said it is unknown what is the future impact of COVID-19 on meat from Brazil and whether China will continue to purchase more meat.

 

-      Reuters