The Brazilian government announced this week the resumption of beef exports to China, after an embargo of more than three months. Now, the certification and shipment of animal protein to the Asian country will be normalized.
The exports were suspended on September 4th, when Brazil identified and reported two atypical cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). The OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), however, analyzed the information provided by the government and reaffirmed the Brazilian status of “insignificant risk” for the disease.
According to the secretary of Commerce and International Relations, Orlando Leite Ribeiro, Brazil provided all the information requested by the Chinese authorities. “Our team here was in contact with the Chinese authorities on a daily basis. When the technical information satisfied the Chinese authorities, they reopened the market,” he says.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the losses related to the embargo were limited, as the drop in prices was offset by the announcement of new units with permission to export to Russia.
China is the main destination for Brazilian meat. And imports have been growing in recent years, with the increase in the consumption of beef in the country.
“Although it is the biggest importer, China still has a low per capita consumption of meat. However, it has been expanding its numbers at an accelerated rate as purchasing power grows”, says the CEO of Garra International, Frederico Kaefer.