U.S. May Lift Brazil Beef Ban
Washington (Dow Jones) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already completed most of the work needed to lift a ban on fresh beef from the major producing regions in Brazil and trade could begin in as little as a year, U.S. and Brazilian officials said.
USDA’s Animal and Health Inspection Service has already completed its risk analysis on a Brazilian region comprised of 15 states considered to be free of the contagious cattle foot-and-mouth disease, U.S. veterinary officer Bob Bokma said.
With the risk analysis done, completed following the return of a USDA veterinary delegation from Brazil in August, USDA officials are now writing up a proposal for a new rule that would allow in beef from the 15 Brazilian states in the country’s southern, southeastern and central-western regions.
Those states, according to Brazilian Agriculture Deputy Minister Jose Amauri Dimarzio, account for about 85% of Brazilian cattle production and are the main beef-exporting states.
Brazil has the world’s largest commercial cattle herd of about 190 million head, according to the country’s National Agricultural Confederation.
Dimarzio, together with his chief of staff Erwin Klabunde and other ministry officials, are in the U.S. this week to take part in meetings of a joint U.S.-Brazil agriculture committee.
One USDA official who asked not to be named said once the rule proposal is completed, the USDA will hold a public comment period and then begin writing a final rule. The official said it could be as little as a year before that final rule is ready for implementation, but even that is behind schedule because USDA veterinarian specialists have been preoccupied this year with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, issues in the U.S.
Dimarzio agreed with that prediction and said he expects the border opening next year to be a major boon for Brazilian beef exports.
Brazil has invested heavily in an FMD vaccination scheme over the past four years so that its major beef-producing states could obtain an FMD-free status.
A report submitted to the U.S. Congress last year by the USDA says caution is paramount when it comes to keeping FMD out of the U.S.
“A single infected animal or one contaminated sausage could carry the virus to American livestock,” the report said.
Unlike mad-cow disease, FMD is not a threat to human health, but an outbreak in the U.S. threatens “extensive economic losses,” the USDA said in the report. “The most significant direct economic effects to livestock owners ... would come from the necessity to depopulate any infected herds. Meat, milk, and other products from infected animals would not be allowed into the food chain.”
Brazil has suffered two recent outbreaks of FMD in June and September, but both occurred in northern states outside the region the U.S. is considering as FMD-free.
Washington (Dow Jones) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has already completed most of the work needed to lift a ban on fresh beef from the major producing regions in Brazil and trade could begin in as little as a year, U.S. and Brazilian officials said.
USDA’s Animal and Health Inspection Service has already completed its risk analysis on a Brazilian region comprised of 15 states considered to be free of the contagious cattle foot-and-mouth disease, U.S. veterinary officer Bob Bokma said.
With the risk analysis done, completed following the return of a USDA veterinary delegation from Brazil in August, USDA officials are now writing up a proposal for a new rule that would allow in beef from the 15 Brazilian states in the country’s southern, southeastern and central-western regions.
Those states, according to Brazilian Agriculture Deputy Minister Jose Amauri Dimarzio, account for about 85% of Brazilian cattle production and are the main beef-exporting states.
Brazil has the world’s largest commercial cattle herd of about 190 million head, according to the country’s National Agricultural Confederation.
Dimarzio, together with his chief of staff Erwin Klabunde and other ministry officials, are in the U.S. this week to take part in meetings of a joint U.S.-Brazil agriculture committee.
One USDA official who asked not to be named said once the rule proposal is completed, the USDA will hold a public comment period and then begin writing a final rule. The official said it could be as little as a year before that final rule is ready for implementation, but even that is behind schedule because USDA veterinarian specialists have been preoccupied this year with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, issues in the U.S.
Dimarzio agreed with that prediction and said he expects the border opening next year to be a major boon for Brazilian beef exports.
Brazil has invested heavily in an FMD vaccination scheme over the past four years so that its major beef-producing states could obtain an FMD-free status.
A report submitted to the U.S. Congress last year by the USDA says caution is paramount when it comes to keeping FMD out of the U.S.
“A single infected animal or one contaminated sausage could carry the virus to American livestock,” the report said.
Unlike mad-cow disease, FMD is not a threat to human health, but an outbreak in the U.S. threatens “extensive economic losses,” the USDA said in the report. “The most significant direct economic effects to livestock owners ... would come from the necessity to depopulate any infected herds. Meat, milk, and other products from infected animals would not be allowed into the food chain.”
Brazil has suffered two recent outbreaks of FMD in June and September, but both occurred in northern states outside the region the U.S. is considering as FMD-free.
