China and Brazil are working to restore beef trade

According to a joint statement issued by China and Brazil, the two countries appreciate the efforts and cooperation between the competent authorities of the two countries in resuming Brazilian beef exports to China.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva paid a state visit to China from April 12 to 15. The two countries issued a joint statement on deepening comprehensive strategic partnership.

The joint statement pointed out that the two sides affirmed the strategic significance of cooperation in agriculture and trade of agricultural products, expressed satisfaction with the consensus reached by the competent authorities of the two sides in the fields of health and phytohygiene and food safety, and pledged to strengthen dialogue in these fields so as to firmly promote the safe and smooth development of bilateral trade in food and agricultural products.

"The Pakistani side ensures that the meat companies recommended for registration meet the requirements, and the Chinese side will follow procedures to approve the registration of companies that meet the requirements in China," it said. The two sides appreciated the efforts and cooperation between the competent authorities of the two countries on the resumption of Brazilian beef exports to China. Earlier, due to the discovery of an atypical case of mad cow disease in Brazil, the Brazilian side suspended beef exports to China in accordance with the current protocol on Brazilian beef exports to China."

In addition, the two sides agreed to cooperate on avian influenza prevention and control technology, including discussing the requirements of bird flu free countries. China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Pakistan on the prevention and control of bird flu, and Pakistan has pledged to strengthen prevention and control measures to ensure that it is free of bird flu. China is ready to speed up the risk assessment process in Pakistan's foot-and-mouth disease-free areas. Pakistan promises to invite Chinese experts to Pakistan as soon as possible to conduct on-the-spot assessment, and the two sides will work together to promote relevant assessment and recognition.

Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed on 22 February that a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease) had been detected on a small farm in the Amazon state of Para, notified the World Organization for Animal Health and sent samples to Canada for testing. Brazilian beef exports to China were suspended as part of a trade agreement between the two countries. The Brazilian case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was described as "atypical" after testing by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).

In 2022, Brazil's beef exports reached a record high of 1.996 million tons. The average annual export price also remained high at $5,923 / ton. Among them, the volume of export to China was again a record, exceeding 1 million tons for the first time, reaching a high of 1.24 million tons, and the proportion of export to China rose to a record high of 62%.