(Reuters) — Brazil’s agriculture ministry said on Tuesday that China had definitively ended an embargo on Brazilian beef imports that had been in place since 2012.
Eight Brazilian meat processing plants were approved to ship to China, the ministry announced at a press conference, confirming expectations of industry group Abiec.
Nine more are expected to gain approval in June, when Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Katia Abreu visits China. The ministry did not specify which plants had been green lighted, but said each had export capacity of US$20 million per year.
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Though other countries like Japan and South Korea have blocked Brazil’s fresh Brazilian beef exports since 2012 due to a BSE scare, the World Animal Health Organization has maintained Brazil’s status as a country with an insignificant risk of the disease.
Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter and China is its top trading partner.
Brazil’s agriculture ministry also expects the United States to approve imports of fresh Brazilian beef for the first time by late June, when President Dilma Rousseff visits Washington.
China also approved another poultry plant and promised to accept exports from seven more in June, as well as a Brazilian pork plant, Brazil’s agriculture ministry said.
In total, 29 Brazilian chicken plants and seven pork plants are already exporting to China.
