October 21, 2005

More countries ban Brazilian beef after FMD

More countries are banning Brazilian meat since FMD was found on south-western cattle farms in Brazil more than a week ago, said country's Agriculture Ministry on Oct 20.

Uruguay, Bolivia, Egypt, Mozambique, Namibia, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Ukraine and Singapore have joined 31 other countries such as the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia and EU-25 in the ban.

In a bid to contain the disease spread among the Mato Grosso herd, Brazilian authorities have begun slaughtering 5,000 head of cattle.

Brazil is the world's leading beef exporter with the largest commercial cattle herd at about 190 million head; Mato Grosso do Sul, with an estimated 25 million cattle, accounts for nearly half of Brazil's beef exports, which were initially predicted to bring in at least US$3 billion by year-end.