BEIJING, June 2 (Reuters) – China’s customs agency said it has lifted bans related to foot-and-mouth disease in northern Brazil, and recognises the whole of Brazil as free of the disease, according to an official notice released on Tuesday.
The announcement is good news for Brazil, the world’s largest beef and chicken exporter, which sent more than half of its beef exports to China last year.
China, the world’s biggest beef importer, procured meat worth nearly $3 billion from Brazil in the first quarter of this year, its trade data show.
Brazil welcomed the decision, saying in a statement that it should expand opportunities for exports of Brazilian beef and pork products, including offal and bone-in meat, to the Chinese market.
“The decision comes after more than 20 years of negotiations between the two countries,” the Brazilian government said, noting the announcement followed Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira’s trip to Beijing for what China called “strategic dialogue”.
Brazil asked China last month to allow it to send more beef to China.
On a visit to Beijing in late May, Brazilian Agriculture Minister Andre de Paula asked China to reallocate other nations’ unused export quotas to Brazil, but China rejected the request, Reuters reported.
China battled a foot-and-mouth outbreak in its northwestern region in late March. The country confirmed foot-and-mouth disease in 219 cattle in two herds comprising a total of 6,229 cattle in Gansu province and Xinjiang region.
China tightened border controls, accelerated vaccine approvals, and implemented culling and disinfecting measures following the outbreaks.
(Reporting by Daphne Zhang, Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo in Beijing, Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo; Editing by Christopher Cushing, William Maclean and Joe Bavier)
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