Brazil and Japan agreed to restrict the embargo on poultry exports to the Asian country. Under the new arrangement, the suspension will be limited only to municipalities where the cases of avian flu have been detected, according to a statement by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture.
Japan has recently suspended poultry imports from the states of Espírito Santo and Santa Catarina after influenza reports in non-commercial farms.
The agreement was announced after a meeting between the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, and Japanese authorities in Tokyo. According to the ministry, the suspension lasts until compliance with the health protocol for the market to reopen.
In the case of Santa Catarina, the country’s second largest chicken exporter, the case was detected in the municipality of Maracajá, in the coastal area. And according to the Ministry’s Secretary of Agricultural Defense, Carlos Goulart, has already been closed.
However, he says, the Japanese protocol determines a waiting period of 28 days to send the report for analysis by the country’s health authority so that exports can resume.
“With the Japanese government agreeing to carry out the zoning, we hope to do this before those 28 days. Then, the restriction would be applied only to Maracajá, allowing exports from other locations in Santa Catarina”, he added.
The secretary also points out that all technical information has already been sent for the analysis of the Japanese government.
So far, Brazil has registered 71 outbreaks of avian flu, none of them in commercial poultry, and maintains the disease-free status with the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
Brazil is the global leader in poultry exports, accounting for 35% of the market. Out of 2.629 million tons exported by the country between January and June this year, Japan was the destination of 219.8 thousand tons.