By John Lee.
ANBA reports that a delegation of Iraqi government officials will visit Brazil from June 2nd to 12th to assess the sanitary conditions of Brazilian livestock and consider lifting the embargo on beef imports in place since 2012.
They will see the beef shipping system at the Santos Port, pay visits to a laboratory that tests local beef for quality and to a Brazilian meat plant, and meet with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture.
The chairman of the Association of Brazilian Beef Exporters (ABIEC), Antonio Jorge Camardelli, told the news agency:
“At the end of the visit, they should probably complete the process of lifting the ban [on Brazilian beef]. Iraq is a crucial market for Brazil ... Its [geographical] location affords it visibility. We did not see a reason for imports to be banned.”
Iraq stopped purchasing Brazilian beef in December 2012, following the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry’s announcement that a cow bearing the causative agent of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) died in 2010. The animal died of other causes and did not develop the condition known as “mad cow disease.”
(Source: ANBA)
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