CNA repudiates the US government’s request to suspend Brazilian beef

In a harsh tone, the CNA (National Confederation of Agriculture) criticized this Friday (19) the request made by the NCBA (National Cattlemen’s Beef Association), one of the main entities of beef producers in the United States, to suspend the purchase of protein animal from Brazil.

In an official note, the Brazilian organization questioned whether the American association is “uninformed” or adopts a protectionist posture “without any sanitary character”.

Last week, the American organization asked the United States Department of Agriculture to suspend it on the grounds that it is necessary to reassess the safety of the sanitary procedures adopted by the Brazilian government in the face of two isolated cases of mad cow.

“In this context, we understand that either the NCBA is uninformed or adopts a protectionist posture with an economic bias and without any sanitary character.

The CNA condemns any arbitrary measure that goes against the pillars of international trade. Thus, it repudiates the conduct adopted by the American entity”, stated the Brazilian confederation.

In the official note, the CNA also recalls that Brazil does not record cases of mad cow disease in a typical way and emphasizes that, unlike Brazil, the United States had three typical cases of the disease in 2003, 2005 and 2012.

“In relation to atypical cases of mad cow, Brazil complied with all the procedures required by the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health), which did not notify Brazil of any irregular action committed by the national health authorities,” he said.

Despite pressure from American producers, the Brazilian government considers it unlikely that the United States will suspend the import of fresh beef from Brazil.

The assessment is shared by sources close to the US government consulted by CNN Brasil, for which it is an internal matter, with little chance of success at this time.

The increase in the purchase of meat from other countries would be bothering local producers. Until September of this year, according to data from Abrafrigo (Brazilian Association of Frigorificos), the United States was the second largest importer of Brazilian beef, only behind China, our largest buyer in the world.

The assessment made by the Ministry of Agriculture is that a suspension of Brazilian meat at this time is unlikely given the increase in imports of the product by the American government. The folder claims that it complies with all the sanitary measures and protocols required for meat imports.