Advancement in health status will open new markets for Brazilian meat

The advance in health status will allow Brazil to expand exports of fresh meat. Brazil exports beef to 156 countries. However, several of them do not buy all the meat, only the meat processed due to the vaccination of foot-and-mouth disease. Some importers are more demanding and have more restrictions, for example, South Korea and Japan that do not accept vaccinated beef.

In August, the Ministry of Agriculture recognized the states of Acre, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Rondônia and parts of Amazonas and Mato Grosso as free areas without vaccination. The Mato Grosso municipalities of Rondolândia and parts of Aripuanã, Colniza, Comodoro and Juína received this recognition. The decision covers an area of ​​about 500,000 heads of cattle.

The next step now is for these states to be recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as areas free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination in May next year and, by 2023, throughout the country. To this end, the country is going through a period of review of the National Program for the Eradication and Prevention of Foot-and-Mouth Disease with a series of actions by the government and the productive sector.