São Paulo – The International Agribusiness Relations secretary to The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Marcelo Junqueira, has told Agência Brasil this Tuesday (23rd) that he hopes to reverse the ban on Brazilian beef currently in place in Japan and Saudi Arabia.
The two countries stopped importing beef from Brazil in 2012, when the Brazilian government announced that an animal in the state of Paraná bore the ‘mad cow disease’ causative agent. The animal died in 2010 of causes other than the disease, which it did not develop. The case was deemed “atypical,” but several countries banned imports of beef from the state or from Brazil altogether. Afterwards, they reversed the decision. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) rates Brazil as having “negligible risk” for the mad cow disease causative agent.
According to Junqueira, Brazil has accomplished the steps required by Japan before selling beef to the Asian country again. In the case of Saudi Arabia, a trip is scheduled in November to negotiate the end of the embargo. “We can safely say that the expectation is to [reverse the restrictions by the end of the year]. It is up to them [the countries]. We are working hard to end the ban [on Brazilian beef],” Junqueira told Agência Brasil.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
