After meeting this week with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) signaled that the import of beef from the country will resume “in due course”. The virtual meeting was held to update Chinese health authorities on the recent information about the atypical case of mad cow disease in the country.
According to a source close to the negotiations, quoted by the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, the Chinese government is satisfied with the virtual meetings and waived the need for an in-person delegation from Brazil to address the issue.
The expectation in Brazil is that transactions will resume by the end of this month, when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit the Asian country.
Sales of Brazilian beef to China were suspended after the identification of an isolated and atypical episode of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the Pará state, in February.
The protocol between the two countries provides for an immediate embargo on the products and depends on the Chinese endorsement for the resumption.
Last week, an analysis conducted by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) concluded that the case was, indeed, atypical and does not pose risks for the supply chain and consumers.