China was not the only nation to lift the embargo on Brazilian beef this week. In a statement released late on Thursday (23), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) confirmed that four other countries have reopened their markets to national protein.

In the statement, the MRE does not mention which other countries have returned to release the purchase of beef from Brazil. The ministry points out, however, that six other places continue without importing the product: Bahrain, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia and Thailand.

In this way, it is possible to nail at least one of the countries that have released the shipments of Brazilian meat: Jordan. As recorded earlier this month by the Canal Rural website, the Middle Eastern nation had suspended purchases due to the atypical case of mad cow disease, notified on February 23 on a farm located in Marabá (PA).

"The atypical form is naturally occurring in the cattle herd, and does not pose a risk to public health" — MRE

In this sense, the federal government, through the MRE, made a point of reinforcing – once again – that atypical cases of mad cow disease do not pose risks to other animals, much less to humans.

"Unlike the classic form of the disease – known as 'mad cow disease' – the atypical form is naturally occurring in the cattle herd, and does not pose a risk to public health, according to guidelines from the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO)," the ministry said.

Beef export: diplomatic work to avoid market closures

In addition to reporting that China and four other countries have cleared the purchase of Brazilian beef, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that since the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, technical name of mad cow disease) was identified in Pará, there was a risk of market closure by 15 countries. Then diplomatic work came into play.

"Acting since the announcement of the BSE case to avoid improper market closures. Through active monitoring, the MRE detected closure risks in 15 countries. In four cases it was possible to avoid the closure of the market and in another five, counting China, the markets were momentarily closed, but already reopened," the ministry said.

Back to the main buyer market for protein

The MRE also valued the importance of reopening by the Chinese. Last year, Brazil exported to the Asian country a total of 1.1 million tons of beef, which yielded US$ 7.5 billion dollars in foreign exchange revenue.

Content director of Canal Rural, Giovani Ferreira pointed out, in this week's 'AgroExport' newsletter, that China's embargo month should represent a retraction of up to 20% of beef shipments abroad in the first quarter of this year. As he recalled, China is responsible for buying 60% of the product marketed by Brazilian cattle ranchers.

Prices of fat cattle on the rise

The news that China will return to buy domestic beef has positively moved the market. According to the Safras Agency, prices closed on Thursday (23) with prices on the rise. The values for the arroba of the fat ox were as follows:

• São Paulo (SP) — R$ 295;
• Uberaba (MG) — R$ 290;
• Dourados (MS) — R$ 274; and
• Cuiabá (MT) — R$ 252.

Source: Canal Rural