U.S. Beef Shipped to Brazil, Marking End of 13-Year Ban

Fresh beef produced in the United States arrived in Brazil on Thursday, signaling the end of a 13-year ban on the importation of American beef products, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced.

The re-entrance of American beef firms into the country’s market opens opportunities for U.S. beef producers, a U.S. Department of Agriculture press release said.

“With Brazil’s large market reopened to the United States, U.S. beef exports are poised for new growth. I look forward to Brazilians getting the opportunity to eat delicious American beef, because once they taste it, they’ll want more of it,” said Secretary Perdue in a statement.

Brazil banned American fresh beef in 2003 amid concerns of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as Mad Cow disease. The market was reopened on Aug. 1, 2016 after a series of meetings between Brazilian and USDA officials and the World Organization for Animal Health’s classification of the United States as a negligible risk country for BSE.

The USDA said the agency’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) engaged with Brazilian officials to end the ban, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) offered documentation and information on U.S. food safety standards and requirements on beef.

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