China has reopened its doors to Brazilian beef, after closing Brazilian beef out of the market for the past two years.
The moves comes as China says it will send officials to Brazil to carry out inspections, following the two-year ban. The ban was based on BSE fears.
The Brazilian beef sector is in a great moment and plans to increase its exports globally, according to Gabriela Tonini of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, who was speaking at SIAL recently. She said Brazil was pushing hard for China to reopen its doors on beef.
It is expected that Brazilian beef could be back on Chinese shelves as soon as December. The Brazilian Agriculture Minister, Neri Geller, said that Brazilian beef could be exported to China in the second half of December or, at worst, in early January.
According to Geller, the end of the embargo was confirmed after a technical meeting to address a related Brazilian status of negligible risk for mad cow disease, certified by the International Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Brazilian beef and veal exports in the first nine months of this year were up by 8% on the same period in 2013 to 916,000 tonnes worth over €3.1 billion according to EBLEX.
Brazil has been pushing hard in recent months to re-open doors to export countries, which were closed due to foot-and-mouth concerns. A Brazilian delegation visited Saudi Arabia to try lift its ban on Brazilian beef in recent weeks.
Brazil plays a vital role in the global beef sector, with the second largest cattle herd after India it is a key exporter.