Secretary Perdue Announces Arrival of First Shipments of U.S. Beef to Brazil

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Release No. 0034.17

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Secretary Perdue Announces Arrival of First Shipments of U.S. Beef to Brazil

Consul General Ricardo Zuniga displays U.S. beef ready for Brazilian customers representing more than a decade of work to reopen the country for U.S. producers.

(Washington, D.C., May 4, 2017) – Secretary Sonny Perdue announced today that the first shipment of fresh U.S. beef has arrived in Brazil following a 13-year hiatus.  The entrance of American beef into the Brazilian market ushers in promising long-term economic opportunity for U.S. beef producers.  

“With Brazil’s large market reopened to the United States, U.S. beef exports are poised for new growth. I look forward to Brazilians getting the opportunity to eat delicious American beef, because once they taste it, they’ll want more of it.” said Secretary Perdue.

Consul General Ricardo Zuniga with the boxes of U.S. beef as they clear customs in Brazil, ready to hit the market.

Brazil closed its market to imports of U.S. fresh beef in 2003 over concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).  Since then, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have worked continuously with Brazilian officials to regain market access.

Additionally, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has provided documentation and information on the U.S. food safety requirements and standards for beef.  Following numerous technical discussions and meetings, Brazil officially reopened the market on August 1, 2016 based on the United States’ classification by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as a negligible risk country for BSE.

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