China has lifted its ban on exports of Brazilian beef put in place following the discovery of a case of BSE in Paraná in December 2012.
The announcement was made this week by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during an official visit of the President of China, Xi Jinnping.
The market for Brazilian beef in China was growing until the ban was imposed at the end of 2012 and at the time was worth about $37 million.
Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Neri Geller said the reopening of the market further strengthens the position of Brazil as one of the leading suppliers of beef worldwide.
"It is a recognition of the quality of our production and robustness of our system of animal health surveillance," he said.
Apart from the reopening of the beef market, other agreements have also been reached between the two countries, including China's commitment to smooth the way for the standardisation of Brazilian imports of pet food, which were banned in 2013. .
Brazil has made a commitment to help ease the import and processing of fish by products and also to revise the requirements for the import of natural casings from sheep and goats.
The Association of Brazilian Beef Export Industries (ABIEC) welcomed the announcement that beef exports to China will resume.
ABIEC said that according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the next 10 years, Asia - particularly China - will account for approximately 56 per cent of the increased demand for animal protein worldwide.
“This proves that the potential of the continent to the Brazilian export market is very large<” ABIEC said.
In Asia, Brazil already exports to markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Viet Nam, and Hong Kong, and is in negotiations to open markets in Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar.
“The constant evolution of the health status of Brazil will also open doors for these markets,” ABIEC said.
“Brazil has eight plants currently empowered to serve the Chinese market. With today's announcement, China has agreed to enable other nine slaughterhouses.”
