The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) declared Brazil free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) with vaccination on Thursday, opening new export prospects for the world’s largest beef exporter. The OIE already considered most of Brazil to be free of foot-and-mouth with vaccination. The declaration, which the government had been expecting since the start of the year, extends certification to the whole country.
The trade dispute between the United States and China has benefited Brazil so far but could prove harmful long term as higher grain prices will make the country’s exports less competitive, Brazil’s farm minister said. Brazil is the world's leading poultry exporter.
Brazilian prosecutors filed charges against the country’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi on Wednesday, accusing him of orchestrating a bribery scheme in 2009 when he was governor of Mato Grosso state. Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge filed charges at the Supreme Court, according to a written statement from the federal prosecutor’s office.
Europe’s decision to ban meat imports from several Brazilian suppliers affects 30 to 35% of the country’s exports to the bloc and will force companies to find new markets while officials work to reverse the measure, Brazil’s Agriculture Minister said.
Brazil’s largest chicken processor BRF SA has been allowed to resume production at nine plants that export to the European Union, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday, a day before a potential EU ban related to a food safety scandal. The ministry clarified that one more plant had been cleared, referring to a firm appearing in the document as SHB Comércio e Indústria de Alimentos SA, which is also controlled by BRF.
Brazil does not face any risks of countries instituting new bans on Brazilian meat imports after the latest phase of the “Weak Flesh” investigation into companies accused of committing fraud to avoid safety checks, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Wednesday.
FS Bioenergia, a joint venture between Brazilian and U.S.-based investors, said on Tuesday it will build its second corn-based ethanol plant in Brazil’s top grains-producing state of Mato Grosso. FS Bioenergia, the first venture to build a 100 percent corn-based ethanol plant in Brazil - where basically all ethanol is made from sugar cane - said it will spend 1 billion reais (US$ 308 million) on the project.
Brazil’s government has won a court decision allowing the export of live cattle, overturning an injunction obtained by an animal rights group, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.
Hundreds of landless farmers in Brazil have invaded and occupied a soybean plantation owned by a company belonging to Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi. The takeover by some 500 people was organized by the Landless Rural Workers' Movement, which encourages the seizure of farmland it deems unproductive as a tactic to pressure the government.
Brazil needs to make progress on inspections before any timeline can be set to end a U.S. ban on imports of fresh Brazilian beef, the U.S. agriculture secretary said on Monday. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and his Brazilian counterpart Blairo Maggi met in Washington, D.C., on Monday to discuss the ban that went into effect on June 22.