Brazilian meat exports could drop by $1.5 billion in 2017, the Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Blairo Maggi, recently revealed.
Maggi made the comments in an interview with Bloomberg News. He added that he would not be surprised if the country lost between 5% and 10% of its meat market share; but these are preliminary estimates.
This follows the recent scandal surrounding beef and poultry meat; it was reported that meat processing plants had been selling ‘rotten beef and poultry for years’.
It has been reported by Reuters that police have accused more than 100 people, most of whom are inspectors, of taking bribes in exchange for allowing the sale of rancid products, falsifying export documents or failing to inspect meat-packing plants.
A number of countries put bans in place on imports from Brazil when the scandal was revealed. China, which is the largest importer of Brazilian beef, was one of the countries to put a ban in place.
These bans remained in place for a number of days before being lifted. The Brazilian Minister believes the industry has overcome the first hurdle in convincing countries to resume purchasing Brazilian beef.
However, regaining consumer confidence will prove more difficult, he added.
Brazilian meat exports could return to normal
Brazilian meat exports could return to normal by the end of May, according to Reuters.
A statement from one of the country’s industry groups, Abrafrigo, suggests that Brazil’s efforts to reverse import bans have ‘started to bear fruit‘ following the revelations last month, Reuters added.
These exports generated $489m in revenue, a 3% drop, Abrafrigo outlined after compiling government data.
Total beef exports from Brazil in the first quarter of the year amounted to $1.3 billion in sales, according to Abrafrigo.