MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil will continue to import beef from Paraguay except from the FMD area

“Paraguayan exports of beef to Chile, definitively suspended” said ARP president Juan Nestor Nuñez

Brazil announced it will continue to receive different meats from the whole territory of landlocked Paraguay with the exception of the country of San Pedro were an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was confirmed this week, the second in four months

Dr. Hugo Idoyaga head of Paraguay’s Animal Health and Animal Quality Service (Senacsa) International and trade relations desk confirmed that on Tuesday his office received a message from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture indicating that the only restrictions to Paraguayan beef will be limited to those shipments originated in the county of San Pedro.

The resolution was posted in the Brazilian ministry web. But at the same time it reported that Brazil’s ministries of Agriculture, Livestock and Supplies, plus Defence with the support from the Armed Forces will be involved in all the necessary actions to ensure animal health in the border area of the state of Matto Grosso with Paraguay.

Argentina however announced that the restrictions imposed when the first Paraguayan FMD outbreak in September remain fully effective. Idogaya said that Argentina allows the import of almost all Paraguayan cattle products, including skins, with the exception of beef and trimmings.

The second FMD outbreak was located 35 kilometres from the first one, both in San Pedro county to the north of Paraguay.

The president of Paraguay’s Rural Association, (ARP), Juan Nestor Núñez said that in this second outbreak, all eyes should be set on Senacsa since they were unable to complete anti-FMD vaccination in a month, as planned, and made President Fernando Lugo sign the lifting of emergency measures in the region and nine days later they had to be again imposed.

“Not only did they force President Lugo into an uncomfortable situation but now we have all exports to Chile, Paraguay’s best customer, definitively suspended for whoever knows for how long”, said Nuñez who added that the farm where cattle with FMD were detected belongs to Gustavo Trugger, who is not a member of ARP.

Asked if Dr Daniel Rojas, head of Senacsa had to resign, Nuñez said it was up to him to decide, “I was voted by an absolute majority of farmers to be ARP president, I wasn’t nominated to the post, so I have nothing to do with his naming”.