Four more countries followed China’s example and once again allowed the import of Brazilian beef, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday night (23.Mar.2023). Itamaraty did not report which countries were. He only informed, in a note, that 6 nations continue to block the product: Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Iran, Russia and Thailand.
After 1 month of embargo due to 1 case of atypical (non-transmissible) “mad cow disease” in Pará, China, the main buyer of Brazilian beef, announced the reopening of imports. The announcement was made by the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, after a meeting with the Minister of General Administration of Chinese Customs, Yu Jianhua, on Thursday (March 23).
Fávaro arrived in China before the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT), which will land in the Asian country on Monday (26.mar). He will spend a week on an official trip with a delegation of ministers, congressmen and businessmen.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its network of embassies, has been acting since the announcement of the BSE case [encefalopatia espongiforme bovina] to avoid undue market closures. Through active monitoring, the MRE detected closure risks in 15 countries”, said the note.
“In 4 cases it was possible to avoid the closing of the market and in another 5, counting China, the markets were momentarily closed, but have already reopened. Efforts continue with a view to reopening the remaining 6 markets – Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Iran, Russia and Thailand”, completed the statement.
Itamaraty also informed that the Brazilian government “received with satisfaction” the news of the reopening of China to Brazilian beef. According to the text, the end of the blockade resulted from “intense diplomatic gestures”, followed by the visit of minister Carlos Fávaro to the Asian country. He participates in meetings with Chinese authorities, seminars and meetings with the productive sector before President Lula’s arrival.
No communicable cases
This was the 2nd time in a year and a half that Brazil stopped exporting beef to China. From September to December 2021, the Asian country, the largest meat buyer in Brazil, suspended purchases after identifying 2 atypical cases, in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso.
Until today, Brazil has not registered classic cases of mad cow caused by the ingestion of contaminated meat and pieces of bone. Caused by a prion, a protein molecule with no genetic code, mad cow disease is a degenerative disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalitis. The modified proteins consume the animal’s brain, making it comparable to a sponge.
In addition to oxen and cows, the disease affects buffaloes, sheep and goats. Ingestion of contaminated meat and animal by-products causes transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in humans.
In the late 1990s, there was an outbreak of cases of mad cow disease in humans in Great Britain, which caused the consumption of beef to be suspended in the country for several months. At the time, the disease was transmitted to humans through cattle fed contaminated animal feed.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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