Paraguay’s tiny but controversial re-entry to selling beef in the U.S. market

Paraguay is a small, landlocked country with far bigger neighbors in Argentina and Brazil. Over time, it evolved into one of South America’s best. The USDA will allow the United States to import fresh beef from Paraguay, but it’s not expected to amount to much, only .05 percent of U.S. fresh beef imports. You would be wrong if you think that a tiny amount is not enough to generate any controversy. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the beef industry’s largest trade group, “strongly opposes” the USDA decision that is expected to see Paraguayan beef imports beginning next month. The NCBA opposes the imports because of Paraguay’s history of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and because it says USDA used outdated information to justify Paraguay’s access to the U.S. market. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a severe and highly contagious viral disease. The FMD virus causes illness in cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, and other animals with divided hooves. It does not affect ...