The Brazilian government obtained the “Protocol of Equivalence of Meat Inspection Systems,” also known as pre-listing, a measure that promises to facilitate meat exports (beef and poultry) to Egypt, informed the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa).
The advancement in commercial relations was made possible with the confirmation of a mission of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the North African country this week.
Last November, the Brazilian government had already made progress in the pursuit of the protocol, during a visit to Cairo by Mapa’s Secretariat of Trade and International Relations. On that occasion, the market opening for fish and fish derivatives was also announced.
“The pre-listing reflects the high degree of confidence in Brazilian sanitary control, especially in the Federal Inspection Service (SIF), whose excellence is recognized by more than 150 importing countries,” said Roberto Perosa, secretary of Trade and International Relations of Mapa, in a note.
Egypt is one of the world’s largest importers of Brazilian beef and poultry. In 2023, Brazilian companies exported to this market more than USD 1.7 billion in products, of which USD 384 million (22%) were in meats – totaling more than 130 thousand tons exported.
Before this agreement, the renewal of the qualification of Brazilian establishments for export, as well as the approval of new processing units, required in-person audits by Egyptian authorities.
According to Mapa, the procedure not only implied high costs for Brazilian exporters but also overloaded the Federal Agricultural Fiscal Auditors of Mapa and limited the number of establishments authorized to export to Egypt. Since 2019, about 30 Brazilian establishments had been on the “waiting list” to obtain the qualification.