Brazil temporarily suspended beef exports to China due to an atypical case of mad cow disease (BSE) in the leading agricultural state of Mato Grosso, the country's ministry of agriculture said on Monday, June 3.
According to Abiec, the Brazilian local association of beef exporters, China, the largest importer of Brazilian beef in terms of sales, spent $ 1.5 billion on Brazilian beef last year, purchasing 322.4 thousand tons of products, which is almost 20% of all Brazilian deliveries abroad.
A representative of the leading exporter told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that the ban came into force on Monday morning, June 3, when the government officially suspended the issuance of international medical certificates.
The representative of the ministry said that this step is due to the bilateral protocol on health, signed by the two countries in 2015.
Somewhat earlier, on Friday, May 31, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture reported an atypical case of mad cow disease in a 17-year-old cow in the state of Mato Grosso. The case was considered "atypical" because the animal was infected with the BSE protein spontaneously, and not through food.
A spokeswoman for the country's agriculture ministry said Monday, June 3, that Brazil expects the suspension to be lifted quickly, as the World Animal Health Organization still believes that Brazil is still a country free of rabies.
