Government wants more refrigerators exporting to China – 03/20/2023 – Market

Government members hope that, during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) trip, China will authorize more Brazilian slaughterhouses to export to the country.

Since 2019, the Asian giant has not granted new certifications so that Brazilian companies can export beef, pork and chicken.

Therefore, according to members of the Lula government, this will be the main issue to be resolved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, whose representatives, including the holder of the portfolio, Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT), left for China this Monday (20 ).

The negotiation has already started. Even before the delegation went to China, the government of Brazil’s main trading partner asked for a list of slaughterhouses that, according to the ministry, would meet the requirements to gain export authorization. Today, there are around one hundred companies with this permission.

The Brazilian government still does not have an estimate of how many slaughterhouses can receive export approval. However, signs have been received that, during Lula’s visit, China will again grant this type of license.

In addition to the representative and members of the government, the delegation to China will have 102 businessmen invited by the Ministry of Agriculture – the majority (64) are from the meat sector.

Part of the group also boarded this Monday (20), on flights with close schedules. Travel and accommodation costs will be paid by the businessmen, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

There are representatives of companies that already export to China on the list, such as members of Abiec (Brazilian Association of Meat Exporters), as well as Joesley and Wesley Batista, executives at J&F, the parent company of JBS.

In these cases, the government’s role, according to advisors, is to facilitate meetings and business that executives have with Chinese people.

Lula is scheduled to board on Friday (24) for the Asian country. On Tuesday (28), the president will hold a series of bilateral political meetings with the Chinese. On the following day, there will be an agenda with the participation of around 200 businessmen who are going to the country and Lula. The president will return to Brazil on Thursday (30).

At the end of February, the government temporarily suspended beef exports to China after the confirmation of a case of mad cow disease in an animal in Marabá (PA).

The suspension is based on a 2015 protocol signed by both countries that establishes a self-embargo on sales to China when a new case of mad cow disease — bovine spogiform encephalopathy — is identified in Brazil.

Members of the Brazilian government claim that they provided all relevant information about the case to China. But the resumption of exports still depends on the decision of the Asian partner.

An analysis by technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture concluded, in early March, that the case in Marabá was “atypical – it occurred due to natural causes in a single 9-year-old animal and with all the sanitary measures promptly adopted.

Agriculture Ministry technicians expect beef exports to China to resume soon. However, it is not yet known whether this could occur during or immediately after the trip of the Brazilian entourage.

Brazil produced 26 million tons of beef, pork and chicken last year, 4% more than in 2021.

The share of the foreign market in Brazilian production has been increasing. Last year, 28% of “in natura” meat went to the foreign market, up from 27% in 2021.

Production data are from carcass weight obtained by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics); those for export, from Secex (Department of Foreign Trade).