Market and government expect China’s shorter embargo on Brazilian beef – 02/23/2023 – Market

The suspension of beef exports from Brazil to China, due to a case of mad cow in Pará, may last less time than that which occurred in 2021, the last time that atypical cases of the disease were registered in the country, according to market participants. heard this Thursday (23).

The embargo, which is part of a health protocol between the two countries when the disease Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is confirmed in Brazil, remained for almost one hundred days in 2021. In 2019, an atypical case was confirmed, but the suspension of exports lasted only 13 days.

“I don’t believe that the situation of 2021, when the embargo started in September and only fell in December, will be repeated. It is important to say that diplomatic relations are now better than in the previous government,” the AEB president told Reuters. Brazilian Foreign Trade Association), José Augusto de Castro.

He believes that, as it is an isolated case this year, the impact on exports tends to be limited, and “everything indicates that this suspension will last until the month of April”.

The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, has an even more optimistic forecast and said in an interview with CNN Brasil that the embargo could be lifted by the end of March, citing the importance of transparency and agility in the processes. The Agriculture Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fávaro has already received the Chinese ambassador to Brazil, Zhu Qingqiao, at the ministry’s headquarters this Thursday (23), the first day the embargo came into effect.

The director of the Athenagro consultancy, Maurício Palma Nogueira, said that the test result that is still pending, for confirmation that it is an atypical case of mad cow, comes from a laboratory of international health authorities in Canada and should be released in brief, confirming the diagnosis already made in Brazil.

The case is atypical when the disease occurs spontaneously in older animals, with no risk to the herd or humans.

“After the definition that it is an atypical disease has been defined, the international animal health agency should publish a note maintaining Brazil’s health status – and reinforcing that the risk is insignificant”, he said.

“I believe that the outcome, this time, can be faster than what happened in 2021”, he added.

The specialist recalled that on the previous occasion two animals were found in slaughterhouses, one in Minas Gerais and the other in Mato Grosso, and not an animal on a rural property.

In addition, the ability of Brazilian inspection to identify the disease in cattle on pasture, in a property with just over one hundred animals in the midst of a herd of 200 million head, also draws attention positively.

“The rigor of the protocols is very efficient. This should testify in favor at this moment so that the confidence of the Chinese remains.”

A source at a large exporting meatpacking company told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that his expectation is that, in fact, the duration of the current embargo will be more similar to that of 2019 than that of 2021.

For this source, the relationship between China and Brazil is better. As an example, he pointed out that the Chinese recently suspended Brazilian plants, that the relationship with the US remains complicated and that Brazil is the only partner with a volume of meat production to serve them.

The president of the AEB also pointed out that the loads that will no longer go to the Chinese market can be shipped to other countries that have less stringent health rules than China, which reduces part of the impacts on exporters.

On the other hand, companies like Mafrig and Minerva have already announced that they will continue to serve the Chinese market through other units in South America.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

The Ministry of Agriculture reported on Wednesday night (22) that beef exports from Brazil to China would be temporarily suspended from Thursday, following an official health protocol due to the confirmation of a case of mad cow disease. .

According to a statement from Adepará (Agricultural Defense Agency of the State of Pará), this is the “atypical” form of the disease.

The ministry communicated the case to OMAS (World Organization for Animal Health) and the samples were sent to the institution’s reference laboratory in Alberta, Canada, whose results are still awaited.

In June 2015, China and Brazil signed a health protocol that establishes a self-embargo on exports to the Asian country in the event of mad cow cases. That is, when an occurrence of the disease is confirmed, the Brazilian government automatically suspends exports.

The embargo is temporary, but its duration is indefinite and defined by China, the largest buyer of Brazilian meat.