US Bans Brazilian Meat from Entering the Country

06/23/2017 - 12h24

Brazil's meat industry suffered yet another defeat on Thursday (the 22nd), when the US government announced that it would suspend all fresh meat imports from the country due to food safety concerns.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, since March of 2017, in the aftermath of the "Weak Flesh" operation (which targeted food inspectors), the country barred 11% of Brazil's fresh meat exports.

One of the consequences of the Federal Police operation is that the US began to inspect 100% of Brazilian meat entering the country. According to the US government, the rejection rate of Brazilian meat is much higher than the global average, which is 1%.

The US only began importing Brazilian meat in 2016 and therefore, it does not currently represent a particularly relevant share of Brazil's exports. However, it is the future impact that the situation could have that concerns Brazil given that the US is a huge meat consumer and the reputation of the country's meat has been tarnished.

Antonio Camardelli, president of the Brazilian Meat Exporting Industry Association said that the US rejected fresh Brazilian meat due to abscesses caused by a reaction animals had to the FMD vaccine.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
	US announced that it would suspend all fresh meat imports from Brazil due to food safety concerns