Ministry of Agriculture says that the result of tests for the case of “mad cow disease” was confirmed as atypical and isolated.| Photo: Wenderson Araújo/CNA

Meat exports to China should resume at the end of March after the visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to the country, according to the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporters (Abiec). The sale of the protein to the Asian market has been suspended for two weeks, when the government of Pará confirmed a case of “mad cow disease”, which was confirmed as isolated and atypical – of natural causes – last week by the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA).

The forecast for the resumption of shipments was given by the president of Abiec, Antônio Jorge Camardelli, this Sunday (5). According to him, “the expectation is that, in the presence of President Lula, we will have the technical part settled and this will be part of the political understanding to reverse the scenario by the end of the month”, he said in an interview with CNN Brasil.

Lula’s trip to China will take place on the 28th and should last four days. In addition to resuming meat trade, the expectation of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Development, Industry, Commerce, Services and Innovation is that bilateral deals will be discussed and closed in areas such as climate change, energy efficiency, technology and innovation, agriculture, defense, among others.

According to Itamaraty, trade between Brazil and China closed 2022 with around US$ 89.7 billion in exports.