The Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) issued a statement on Friday (11/19) in which it repudiates the request of the United States National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), sent to the country’s Department of Agriculture (USDA), to prevent the entry of Brazilian fresh beef in the North American market.
The CNA advocates that Brazil complies with all the sanitary requirements accorded by the countries that import the national product. “Given this context, we understand that either the NCBA is uninformed or adopts a protectionist stance with an economic bias and no sanitary considerations,” says the statement. Read the full text below:
STATEMENT
Brasília, November 19, 2021
Regarding the request from the United States National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), forwarded to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prevent the entry of Brazilian fresh beef into the North American market, we must state that:
– Brazil has never had any case of the typical form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease”;
– The Brazilian legislation forbids the use of any animal protein for bovine feed, the only cause of this disease contamination by the animals;
– Unlike Brazil, the United States had three typical cases of the disease in 2003, 2005, and 2012;
– Concerning atypical cases of “mad cow”, Brazil has complied with all the procedures required by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE);
– The OIE did not notify Brazil of any irregular action done by the national health authorities;
– Brazil has a robust sanitary defense system, thanks to the work of the Brazilian government together with rural producers. The work is acknowledged by the OIE, which in recent years has granted Brazil the status of a zone free of diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and with insignificant risk for “mad cow”;
– Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, trading the product “in natura” to more than 100 countries. This number reinforces the assertion that we comply with all the sanitary requirements accorded by the countries that import our product. Given this context, we understand that either the NCBA is uninformed or adopts a protectionist stance with an economic bias and no sanitary considerations.
The Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) repudiates any arbitrary measure that goes against the pillars of international trade. Thus, the CNA repudiates the conduct adopted by the American entity.